The Twelve Days of Christmas
by SilverLily aka Blood Moon
Summary: Earthen Lieutenant Yuugi Motou becomes unwittingly mated to an Aldar Lieutenant whilst on his Christmas vacation. Shounen-ai
1. The Days Begin

****

The Twelve Days of Christmas 

Taking elements from Star Trek, but not entirely based on. Made up species, too. 

Summary: Yuugi is a lieutenant on an Earthen star ship, going on shore leave for his Christmas vacation, intent on spending the whole month offered him simply relaxing away from all human contact. However, his plans are changed when the captain decided to turn it into a learning experience, paring up the entire crew in groups of four. The even worse damper, they get to log all of their interactions with a newly met race. Yuugi unwittingly becomes bonded to one of them, spending the last twelve days of Christmas with one of the oddest, most frightening, and life changing experiences of his time. 

~ * ~

Lieutenant Motou Yuugi sat in a chair in the mess hall, begrudgingly eating his nutritional meal, number Eighty Six. 

Damned captain. He had planned to fill up on nothing but turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie his entire vacation. _Away_ from all people contact. Being scrunched onto a rather small ship with over eight hundred people was turning out to truly get on his nerves. 

But _nooo_, the captain just _had_ to put a damper in his perfectly laid out vacation plans. Now he'd probably only be able to eat what he felt like on Christmas. _With_ other people. 

And he didn't even have any idea who he was going to be paired up with. 

"Hey, pal! How's it going?" 

Lieutenant Motou's good friend, the Elsarian Jou, sat down next to him with three meals. Yuugi shook his head. "Gods, you people eat a lot." 

The blonde man shrugged, shoving a piece of blonde hair behind a pointed ear. Yuugi had always been reminded of Elves with the Elsarian, most of them possessing an impish nature and flamboyant attitude. "Yeah, well, that's what happens when you get stuck with earth food that has no substance to it." 

The Lieutenant poked at his food. "This is _not_ earth food. This is garbage that was recycled for dogs. We only get stuck with it because the dogs wouldn't eat it." He dropped his fork. "So tell me, Ensign, just what are you doing for the shore leave? You're not staying on the ship, are you?" 

"_Eustake_, no! I'm gonna go see just what this Gaia of yours looks like." 

Yuugi recognized that strange word as the Elsarian word for the Underworld, and Gaia as the name of Earth. "Had the courage to look at the chart yet to see who you got paired with?" 

Jou looked up from his flavorless food. "I take it you haven't." 

Yuugi snorted. "Not bloody likely." He looked at Jou, raising an eyebrow. 

"Well, I've got good news, and I got bad news." 

Yuugi frowned. "Start with the good news." 

"Well, the good news is that we got paired up together!" He gave a weak grin. 

Yuugi was silent for a moment. "Yeah, that's good. So…what's the bad news? Who else is in our group?" 

The blonde Elsarian didn't answer. 

"Tell me it's not Kaiba." 

"All right. I won't." He went back to his meal. 

  
"Jou!" Yuugi cried. 

"Hey, you told me to not tell you!" 

The Lieutenant rubbed his face. "Well, I suppose that I'll be able to live with the Volkan for a couple of weeks. Who is our fourth partner?" 

The Ensign swallowed hard. "Please don't kill me." 

Yuugi's eyes grew wide. "What, is it Mazaki?" 

Jou seemed to shrink into himself, squinting for the blow he was sure he was going to receive. "The captain." 

Had the Lieutenant not been trained to _not_ faint in any situation, he would have. Nor did he scream. He simply sat there, slowly starting to accept that this year was not, by any means, going to be a good Christmas. "Oh, Gods. Stuck with Captain Ishtar for one month, the unhappy Volkan Seto Kaiba, on some island that I won't be able to go surfing on." 

"Uh, actually, we aren't getting the tropical paradise like some of the crew." 

Yuugi looked back up again. "We're not?" 

"No, uh," Jou scratched his head. "Some people laughed when I asked them about where it was, others simply looked at me with pity. Some place called 'Minnesota', on the International Falls border. You know where that is?" 

Yuugi's face paled ten times whiter than chalk. "Oh, kuso. There must be a god up there right now that really, _really_ hates me." He sighed. "Minnesota is nothing but an ice box in the winter time. People have been known to be snowed in for days, and International Falls is way up in the boonies. I don't even think there is a store around for miles." He rested his head on his hands. "So, anything else I should know about?" 

"Uh, yeah. Probably. Kaiba said something about us getting a 'special mission' that has been assigned by the Earth and Outer Homes Outreach Program. We get to help a couple of 'Aldars' get acquainted to Earth life, and the daily interactions of other species on the earthen ships." 

Yuugi sighed. "Thus, the Volkan, the Elsarian, and a couple of Humans. Lovely. Just wake me up when the nightmare is over, 'kay?" 

"'Kay." Jou went back to his meal. 

~ * ~ 

Lieutenant Motou stood impatiently at the window, tapping his foot incessantly. Just how long did it take? 

The snow was falling heavily outside, the cold so bitter it was filtering in through the thick, double paned glass. 

Ensign Jou snored rather loudly off to the side, slumped haphazardly into a small airport seat. Yuugi sighed, wishing he could get some much needed sleep too, only in a nice, soft bed secluded from meddlesome captains and troubled crew members. 

Yuugi, Jou, and the silent Seto were currently waiting inside of Duluth's international airport, waiting for their captain to pick up the two Aldars that would be coming their way for the whole of their shore leave. So far, Captain Ishtar had been gone for almost twenty minutes, and there were still no signs of him anywhere. 

"You know, Lieutenant, that impatience won't speed things up any faster." 

Yuugi scowled in Ensign Kaiba's direction. "Damned Volkans," he muttered. 

"We have good hearing, too." 

Lieutenant Motou felt his blood start to boil, fighting with himself and desperately trying to remember that killing was a ver, _very_ bad thing. He thought idly to himself. _Stress. The confusion created when one's mind overrides the body's basic desire to choke the living shit out of some asshole where desperately deserves it._

This brought a small smile to his lips. His mother had this saying framed and hanging over her desk at home, always reminding him that someday, if he pushed it too far, that this saying was going to fly out the window. Then he'd be in a lot of trouble. 

Seto thought for a brief moment, as he stared at that small little grin, that the Lieutenant might be plotting his demise, or a torture session against him. 

Humans weren't _that_ vulgar, were they? 

"I see you've been good little boys and haven't run off." 

Yuugi turned blank violet eyes towards his captain. Snowflakes were still nestled in his corn-silk hair, his rather large coat covered in the cold white fluff. 

__

Good little boys…yes, Ishtar always was such a sarcastic little thing. 

"Did everything go well, Captain?" the Volkan asked, always liking to remain on the authority's good side. 

"Yes, I think so. The two Aldars are on their way. Just had to stop at the rest room." Ishtar dropped his bag on the floor next to him, Yuugi swearing that he heard paper rustling around inside. 

"When they get here, we'll just teleport to our cabin." He looked over at the sleeping Elsarian. "Wake him up, Lieutenant. We want to make a good impression. With that thing around, we'll have to work hard on it, though." 

__

Oh, peachy… 

Yuugi walked over and shook his shoulders roughly. He wasn't being cruel, Jou was just that hard to wake up sometimes. 

Of course, he did run a close second in that department. He never was a morning person. 

"Jou, wake up!" 

The Elsarian snorted, rolling over just slightly. " _Etanke, misatoo…midda ya no itanachiu baa_…" 

"Jou! Quite telling you mother that you don't want to go to school and wake up!" 

The blonde man jerked violently, suddenly prying open his droopy eyes. "Oh, ah, ready to go then?" 

Yuugi sighed, running his hand through his hair as Kaiba snorted with mirth behind him. "Yeah, time to go." 

The Elsarian sat up, picking up his luggage with him once he finally stood. He looked around blankly, blinking a few times. "Uh, where's the Aldars?" 

"Had you been awake, Ensign, you'd have heard me say that they are on their way, and that we are to make a good impression on them," the captain barked. 

Jou straightened up instantly, silently cursing the rotten 'vacation.' Humans had such funny traditions. 

Yuugi saw two figures beginning to head their way, carrying odd looking bags of a pure white material. 

Suddenly, his mouth went slack. One of them was, undeniably, a kinder looking Captain Ishtar. The other simply _had_ to be his own long lost twin. But…there was an air about him and his dark attire that the Lieutenant felt suddenly drawn to. 

Yes, one word and one word alone was ringing through Motou's mind at that moment. '_Sex God_!'

Hard crimson colored eyes blinked at their surroundings. Delicate snowflakes hung precariously on a pure black scarf, a surprisingly form fitting insulated black coat covered in drops of moisture. His body was one that any person could be jealous of. Not to mention the delicious tan that he donned. 

__

Funny. These Aldars look exactly like we do, the Lieutenant thought. 

"Hello," the captain-clone said, smiling warmly. "You must be our new companions for the next few weeks." 

Yuugi blinked. As did Seto. And Jou. 

The captain-clone smiled again. "My name is Malik. I am the captain of my ship, and this is my Lieutenant, Yami Tiyaku. We are very pleased to meet you." 

So very cordial this person was. 

"Oh, my is everything all right?" Yuugi blinked as he stared at Yami, suddenly realizing that he had forgotten to shut his mouth. "Is there still a bit of that _snow_ substance in my hair?" Yami began to wipe his hand through his spiky hair, which was devoid of any white snowflakes. 

Yuugi shook his head, jarring his thoughts back into order. "Oh, no, no snow." 

"Oh good, I am very glad." He smiled. 

Yuugi blinked. Then blinked again. How could someone look that attractive, and yet be that…that… _oblivious_? Lieutenant Motou gave a weak smile. It was the only response he could think of. 

"I suppose we should be off then," Malik said, looking at Captain Ishtar for more instructions. 

Jou walked up next to Yuugi, blinking in confusion. His blue eyes said it all. _Are these guys for real?_

"We'll be teleporting to the cabin. Just stand still, and close your eyes if you need to. It's painless, but it looks funny if you've ever had your eyes open for it," Captain Ishtar explained. 

Malik clapped his hands together. "Oh, I've never teleported before. Aldars have to need for such technology. This should be exciting." 

Yuugi blinked again as he looked at the big smile. Gods, they seemed so gullible!

This was going to be a ver, _very_ long vacation. Trapped in a cabin, way up north, with absolutely no place to find solitude. And he had to log his interactions with these people? Kami-samma, if they ever found that journal! 

Yuugi choked back on his groan, plastering a painful smile on his face. What a nightmare. 

~ * ~

Want more? It will get better, the relationships, I mean. Lots of laughs on the way, too. 


	2. Snowballs and Hormones

****

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Lieutenant Yuugi Motou frowned as he looked at the piece of fudge in his hand. The caretaker of the large cabin they were staying at, some fellow human by the name of Ryou, it seemed, had been the one to make the holiday treat. Everyone felt obliged to eat a piece, along with the fact that they tasted exceedingly well, because of the threats that went along with the aforementioned fudge. 

You see, the caretaker's spouse Bakura had mentioned that if someone didn't eat the fudge and hurt Ryou's feelings, heads were going to roll. 

Captain Ishtar had scowled, but eaten a piece anyway. 

Yuugi downed the rest of the chocolate substance, wishing that he were basking in the rays of a warm tropical sun, secluded from all contact. 

He heard one of the Aldars' sigh at the snow falling outside of the window. 

"Such an odd thing Earth has. Did you know this? Wondrous and yet so cold." 

Lieutenant Motou winced as he heard Malik speak in that strange, aloof haze of his. These people seemed to have no end to their dense mind-frames. Seto said that they were too trusting. Not to mention the fact that they almost _always_ pointed out the obvious, and had no sense of sarcasm. 

"Oh, yes Malik. _Very_ wondrous. Just wait till you meet a Timber wolf out in that wondrous cold." 

The blonde captain was silent for a moment. "That sounds truly exciting!" 

Yuugi collapsed on the couch. He gave up. 

"Motou! Move it! Outside with you!" 

Yuugi sat up and glared at his captain. "Aye, aye, sir. What's on the mission schedule for vacation today?" 

Ishtar's steely purple eyes narrowed. "Don't you give me lip. We're going to acquaint the Aldars to the snow. Now get up and prepare for battle!" 

Yuugi groaned. Not a snowball fight. 

He saw Yami look over at Malik. "Give lip?" 

Yuugi needed a wall to hit his head against. He was coming to find out that he had very little patience these days with people who didn't seem to know too much. It wasn't exactly lip he was giving, just a highly annoyed tone to his response. 

He looked over at Jou rubbing his hands together. The Elsarian walked up to his closest friend with an insane look of glee in his eyes. "Come on," he whispered, "let's get revenge on the captain." 

Yuugi saw Malik look back at Yami. "Battle?" 

"I'm not going, captain," Ensign Kaiba spoke up. "I have no use for your silly human games out in the snow." 

"Oh come on, Kaiba. It's not that bad. You can make yourself an igloo!" Jou spoke up. 

Seto's left eyebrow went to his hairline. "Pardon?" 

"It's a little house made of ice. It has a little hole in the top, so you can have a fire, and it's quiet. Perfect for…ah…meditation!" 

Steel blue eyes studied the Ensign for a moment. "Fine." He grabbed his coat, now seemingly eager to get out of the cabin. 

Malik walked up to Ishtar. "Battle? What is going on?" 

The blonde captain was wrapping a scarf around his neck, opening the front door and allowing the cold breeze to filter through. Much to their own luck-as Ishtar had so _politely_ put it-the upper half of Minnesota had received in excess of almost thirty inches of snow in a total of three days. The only mode of transportation they had was by way of snowmobile, and there were only three of them. There were eight people at the cabin total, including the two caretakers. 

It was, after all, a rather large retreat nestled in the heart of Minnesota wilderness. Two stories, the first level for food and recreation, the upper level for bedrooms and bathing facilities. 

But although it was large, when inside Yuugi felt right back on the star ship, sitting on uniform furniture and rooms complete with automatic sliding doors. 

"Battle," Ishtar grinned, his Ensign and Lieutenant now ready to go out the door themselves. "We're talking about a massive snowball fight." 

~ * ~ 

Yuugi crouched down next to his large pile of snowballs he'd just finished creating, an evil grin smothered on his face. Jou had one that was similar to his, making the third person on their team, Yami, quite nervous. 

"You two look troubled," he stated. 

"Quite possibly," Yuugi grinned. "Revenge on a grouchy captain is ever so sweet…" 

Yami's eyes grew wide all of the sudden. "Mutiny?" 

"We wish," Jou growled, smoothing out the ball of fluff in his hands with infinite care. "But the rest of the NASA administration would kill us if we were ever caught." 

"Sounds rather vulgar," the Aldar replied. He was beginning to wonder if, perhaps, these human people truly were as crazy as the rest of his colleagues had mentioned back home. And did they corrupt the other species they came in contact with? 

"You'll have to realize that a lot of what humans say they don't really mean. It's mostly wishful thinking or simply a way to express their aggravation," Yuugi explained, eyeing Seto across the field behind his own defense wall, working on his snowballs to defend his new igloo. 

"Some species it's innately inside of them," Jou started. "It's a precious little thing we call sarcasm. I think that we've been rubbing off on the Vulcan over there, too." He motioned over to Ensign Kaiba. 

The Aldar Lieutenant rounded yet another perfect ball in his lithe hands. "You people in this sect of the universe sure are strange." 

"Amen," Yuugi commented, steadying himself. He sat up a little straighter. "Ready," he grabbed a snowball. "On one…" Jou took one in each hand. "Two…" Yami looked rather nervous, holding one in his hand with uncertainty. "Three!" 

They pummeled the opposing team with a dire accuracy. 

"Motou! You worm! You're going to pay for this!" Ishtar started throwing his pile of not quite finished snowballs like a machine gun. Yuugi laughed in a small victory, hiding behind his wall of snow. "You're dead captain! Not even you have been able to defeat my battle tactics in the training room or out in the field!" A snowball landed on Seto's head, and Malik actually started to laugh. 

The Vulcan growled. "Eat snow!" 

Jou clutched his sides, trying hard not to crack as he starred at his comrade's snow-covered face, his skin slowly starting to turn red under the cold. 

War broke loose. There were so many snowballs Yami couldn't even keep track anymore. If he did remember correctly, Yuugi took but a mere two hits, Jou a surprising eleven, and the other team was simply demolished, in snowball-fight-battle-criteria. Malik took fourteen hits, a particularly nasty one to his rear-end, Seto an amazing nineteen, and Ishtar himself carrying an impressive thirty hits in his snow-covered hair. 

Fresh out of snowballs and tired and cold, they all collapsed on the ground, looking at their handy work. The front yard of the cabin retreat was a total mess, the front becoming lost amidst the white background with its white covered wall. 

Yuugi looked back at his team mates in accomplishment. "And that is what you call a good victory." His gaze suddenly found Yami who was devoid of almost any snow. "Didn't you get any hits?" 

The Aldar looked at himself with his vivid crimson eyes. "I suppose not." 

"Oh, that's not right," Jou began. 

Yami noticed Yuugi pushing more snow together next to him. "Y-you…you wouldn't…" 

"No one is going in tonight without getting at least a little wet…" Yuugi shifted position slightly to be able to spring at any moment. 

"But…I was on your team!" Yami tried to reason, suddenly feeling betrayed. 

"What do you say, Jou…does a white-wash seem to be in order?" 

Yami looked confused, not liking the sound of whatever a 'whitewash' was. 

"You get his arms, I'll keep a hold of his legs." 

Yami jumped up to run, finding himself suddenly crushed into the white ground beneath him, immobilized. "Captain…help!" 

Malik lazily walked over, looking at his Lieutenant as Ishtar stood beside him. Seto was now hiding in his new igloo, allowing his snow to melt off of himself with the small fire he'd made inside. "No hits. Doesn't seem very fair, does it Captain Ishtar?" 

Ishtar frowned. "No, although seeing my own men turn against a team mate _is_ a little unsettling." He shrugged. "Oh well. I'd probably do the same anyway." 

Yami looked abandoned as he starred up at his captain. Malik felt bad for a moment, but didn't have too much time to dwell on that feeling as he was suddenly filled with surprise as Yami cried out loudly. 

"That's _cold_!" 

Yuugi laughed as he continued to shove more snow down Yami's jacket. "That's sort of the _point_!" He washed a bit of snow through the Aldar's ebony black hair. 

"Captain help me!" He struggled to get up, but the two on top of him held firm. 

Ishtar laughed. 

Yuugi did one last final thing, which was probably a dirty trick, but he dropped a few dozen clumps of snow down Yami's pants. 

The Aldar was huffing when he was finally aloud to sit up, shivering with the cold he had now been entirely exposed to. "That.." he began.. "was mean." 

Yuugi laughed, he and Jou giving each other a high five. 

"Lieutenant," Malik started. 

Yami glared at him. "Traitor." 

"Turn about is fair play," Malik said. 

Lieutenant Motou's deep purple eyes became as wide as saucers when he saw Yami rocketing his way, latching on to him and stuffing snow down _his_ coat. Yami seemed to be having an easier time with Yuugi, being that he was, indeed, a bit bigger than the human beneath him. 

"All right, all right! I give!" Yuugi wailed. He remembered back to his child-hood when his grandfather would come in and stuff a snowball in his spiky hair, laughing good-naturedly. 

"Never trust you for interrogation," Ishtar muttered. 

Yami laughed, sitting up and offering Yuugi a hand. The Lieutenant began to take it, wanting to get up and go inside to get warm. Taking off his sopping wet glove, Yuugi reached up his hand. Yami did likewise, also knowing that now was the time to go in. 

Just as their skin made contact, Yami yelped, jumping away before Yuugi could blink. 

The Aldar stood shaking for a moment, looking as if he were confused. Shaking his head, he rushed back into the cabin, slamming the door behind him. 

Yuugi blinked in shock. "What was that all about?" 

Malik looked troubled. "Oh, dear. I'd better go and talk to him. I'm not sure." 

Ishtar shrugged, thinking that perhaps Yami had been pushed too far. 

~ * ~ 

Yuugi stood at the stove, grumbling about having to cook dinner tonight. Lucky for them, there was no food replicator, and all things had to be made from scratch. Of course, Idaho Spuds probably wasn't exactly _scratch_, but it was as close to home-made food as Yuugi was going to make. 

He finished stirring the packaged gravy, pouring it over the mashed potatoes and biscuits he had set up on each plate. Yami had been rather quiet all evening, and Malik was only confiding with Ishtar about what was going on. Yuugi still wasn't sure what exactly had gone wrong that afternoon. Had he gone too far with the whitewash? Yami had laughed, hadn't he? 

Too weird. 

"Dinner!" he called, placing the plates at the large table in the dining room as people began to sit down. 

Ensign Kaiba plopped himself in a chair, looking at the plate that Yuugi set before him. "No vegetables? No fruit? _Roasted_ beef? What is this, liquid fat day?" 

"Damn straight," Yuugi snapped. "And don't question the cooking preference of a superior officer. If you want different food, you go cook it yourself." 

Kaiba frowned hard, but began eating anyway. He _sooo_ hated how Yuugi was, indeed, a superior officer. 

He got the plates for Malik, Jou, and Ishtar once they sat down. 

Only two left. Himself and Yami. Grabbing the two plates off the counter in the kitchen, Yuugi made his way back into the dining room one last time to begin his meal. 

Yami was at his seat, looking much like he had before the snowball fight. Everything appeared to be fine. Coming up behind him, Yuugi leaned over and put the plate down, his arm brushing past Yami's shoulder. 

The Aldar Lieutenant yelled again, jumping up as he knocked his chair over, then scurrying out of the room. 

Yuugi looked back at Malik. "Well, might I inquire as to what's wrong with him?" 

Malik frowned. "I'll be right back." He got up and went left the room. 

Frowning, the Lieutenant sat down and glared at his captain. "Well? Will you tell us what's going on? I know that he's told you." 

Ishtar scowled. "It's not my place to say. Quiet and eat your meal." 

Confused and highly annoyed, Lieutenant Motou began to consume his food.

Five minutes later Captain Malik walked back into the dining room looking extremely upset about something. He held his hands together in front of himself in subtle anxiety. 

Retaking his seat, he looked around at the rest of the table. "It's about time that I explained to all of you what is going on with my Lieutenant." 

The table was silent. Malik took a breath. "As I am sure all of you can probably guess, such behavior in an Aldar is unheard of, except…" 

"Except," Yuugi pressed. 

Malik sighed. "Except when an Aldar enters their mating period." 

Ensign Kaiba sat up abruptly. "You brought your Lieutenant along when he was about to go into his mating period?!" 

Jou looked from Seto to Yuugi in confusion, wondering if his friend knew what was going on. Yuugi shrugged in confusion. 

Malik vigorously shook his head. "No, of course not! He wasn't due for another six months!" His eyes looked pleading. "As I'm sure some of you know, the Vulcans too have a mating period, where every so many years the chemical levels in their body change drastically. Aldars are very similar in this area. We have to keep careful track of our individual mating periods. However, unlike the Vulcans, we Aldars don't have an antidote to stop this rather violent part of our anatomy." 

Yuugi wondered why Malik used the word 'violent.' 

Malik looked almost desperate now. "My scans of my Lieutenant have shown that his body chemical levels are indeed at the mating period highs. He has somehow been thrown into it prematurely. If he doesn't mate with another individual, he will be dead by morning." 

Yuugi was left stunned at what he heard. Jou's mouth had gone slack. Ishtar was unreadable, and Seto looked sympathetic. 

"What…what are we going to do," Jou wondered. Yuugi too was rather worried. 

Captain Ishtar pushed his plate back. "Motou, you're up." 

Yuugi was silent for a moment before he could bring himself to speak. "Excuse me?! _Me_? Why the hell do I get picked?" 

"Mind your tongue!" Ishtar snapped. "You're the only other Lieutenant in a three-hundred mile radius. I will not have other ranks fraternizing, even if we're on vacation. _Especially_ if we're on vacation. Get going." 

It felt as if the air had been sucked out of Lieutenant Motou's lungs. His captain had to be going insane. 

__

You call that **fraternizing**!!?? 

"If it helps at all, I have heard that you Humans have a very high stamina, especially in this…ah…department," Malik tried to console. 

Kaiba snorted as he fought back a grin, and Jou almost choked on his potatoes. 

"Lieutenant Tiyaku has already been detained in his room," Malik stated. 

Yuugi's eyebrows went to his hairline. _Detained_? The gears in his head began to turn. 

… _Violent_… _Detained_… _High stamina_…

Oh, Kami-samma, what was he in for? 

Yuugi looked over at his captain, lavender eyes clearly stating- _be responsible for the death of an Aldar, and I'll be responsible for the death of one of my crew_…

This Christmas just seemed to be getting better and better. 

~ * ~

Heheheheh, boy this took a while. It's okay though, now it will get more fun. Hope you enjoy what to come….. you'll see what I mean by a rather…frightening…experience in the future. 


	3. Indebted

****

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Yuugi heaved in a shaky breath as he stood in front of Lieutenant Tiyaku's door. Captain Malik had given him the five-digit pass code to open the door. He was told that he'd have a total of five second to walk inside before the door quickly shut again. 

He still couldn't believe that he was going to go through with this. Ishtar not only threatened to kill him if he didn't, but Lieutenant Motou had a feeling it was a hearty promise, swearing that he saw Ishtar cleaning some rather large pieces of metal in his own bedroom whilst on his way to Yami's room. 

Perhaps he was being a bit paranoid. After all, what _all_ could possibly happen? Surely Yami wouldn't have the force to actually, say, _crush_ his pelvis bone, could he? Would his captain put him in that much danger?

…Knowing Ishtar, Yuugi had a feeling he would, which only helped to heighten his growing panic. 

__

Just breathe, Motou. You'll get through this. It's just one night. After all, who was the one saying '**sex god!'** when you first laid eyes on him? 

Yuugi scowled at his own thoughts. _Yeah, right. Like I expected to get in his pants **this** way. 'If you don't have sex with him, he'll die. No way around it.' Yeah, that sounds exciting._

Cursing Aldar habits for the umpteenth time that night, Yuugi extended a not-so-steady hand over to the number panel placed in the wall next to the door. 

__

…6…3…9…3…6 

He winced as he looked at the encrypted code in the numbers. '696969' was the famous number sequence for, as his friend Honda always called it, 'mattress dancing' or 'getting it on!' Not to mention the fact that both numbers were divisible by three. 

If that wasn't an omen of some sort, he didn't know what was. 

With a small puff of air, the door slid soundlessly into the wall, allowing him quick entrance. 

Yuugi forced himself just inside of the door, slowly counting in his head. _1…2…3…4…5…_

__

Whoosh! The door closed just as quickly. 

The Lieutenant looked around at the room, noticing that it was quite dark. Maybe just as well. Gods know what he might see were the lights turned on. He looked around, waiting for his pupils to dilate enough to allow him to see. 

Before he had time to wonder where on earth Yami actually was, he found his back thrust up against the door, a hot mouth tasting of honey and rum and exotic spices and a little something he couldn't quite place firmly latched onto his own. He suddenly understood the term 'tonsil hockey,' as Yami started to memorize his every crevice. 

Well, suppose that he wasn't going to have to wonder about formalities at all. Yami didn't even seem coherent. 

__

Well, that would explain why he had to be detained. 

A knee wedged its way between Yuugi's legs, and he suddenly realized that he was not, by any means, going to get the upper hand tonight. 

Still dealing the earthen Lieutenant a bruising kiss, Yami's hands searched around Yuugi's body, finding his left hand pushed back against the door. Yuugi swore that he was going to have a bruise on his back come morning, with how hard he was being pushed.

Taking Yuugi's hand, Yami placed it firmly on his neck, adjusting his head slightly to allow for more space. Yuugi thought that perhaps Yami wanted him to partake as well. 

__

Might as well make the most out of the evening that I can… 

Yuugi ran his hand down Yami's neck, stopping at the collar as he began to fiddle with the buttons. 

Yami growled into the kiss, placing Yuugi's hand right back on the Aldar's neck. 

__

He's got a thing with the neck? Some sort of Aldar erogenous place? I can deal with that.

Desperately needing a chance to breathe, Yuugi pulled his head sharply back and off to the side, instead choosing to give Yami a small hickey. Of course, the moment his lips touched Yami's neck, the Aldar gave out a guttural moan, pulling Yuugi away from the door and landing on top of him harshly on the floor. 

Yuugi had never seen anyone remove clothes as fast as that before. Some sort of new record he was going to have to write down someday. 

Yami squeezed hard around Yuugi's bare rib-cage as he began to settle himself down, making for another sore spot that Yuugi was going to have to be careful about once morning came around. 

That is… _if_ it ever came around…

~ * ~ 

Ishtar sat in one of the couches in the overly-large living room, silent and contemplative. For a flittering moment he wondered just how Yuugi was fairing with an Aldar that was currently beyond all logic. 

And this was _really_ rare, considering the Aldars were practically _comprised_ of logic. 

Malik was also silent, seated in a recliner with a mug of hot-cocoa. 

"You don't think that Yami will actually _hurt_ my Lieutenant, do you?" 

Malik looked up from his contemplating, a small amount of worry still etched in his pale lavender eyes. "I…I do not believe so. Not severely, at any rate. Aldars of the past have been known to kill a partner while mating, but it is usually only the females who do such things, and there has not been a recorded case of such actions in over three hundred years." He shook his head. "I am just not entirely sure how he could have possibly been thrown into his mating period so early. If anything it might occur a couple of weeks early, which is why we allow for it in our scheduling methods. And we've never mated outside of our species before…I'm not entirely sure what is going to happen." 

Ishtar raised an eloquent eyebrow. "So their gender is no issue?" 

Malik looked up confused. "Why would it be? Do not people of your race mate in the same fashion?" 

Ishtar sat forward just lightly. "Well, it's typically male-female relations, there are many that still frown on same-sex relations." 

Again, the Aldar captain did not seem to follow. "Our people may mate with any gender they choose. No matches are frowned upon, but only conception may happen between a male-female relation. It is the same with you?" 

Ishtar merely nodded. 

A muffled moan filtered down into the living room. Yami's room, apparently, was placed directly on top of the living room. 

Then came the first pound. 

Ishtar mused to himself. "Well, it sounds like their making progress up there." 

Malik looked skeptical, casting a wary eye upward. 

__

Pound…pound… 

"Oh dear," he frowned, wondering just who might be on the receiving end of those pounds. 

Seto bounded down the stairs looking violated. Ishtar looked at him, simply waiting for a response. 

The Ensign noticed the frown, noting that if he said anything, Ishtar was going to fry his rear end with barbecue sauce. "I'm going out to my igloo." 

Grabbing the nearest coat off the rack, he opened the front door. Another moan from upstairs. 

"I'm going with you!" Jou leaped down the stairs two at a time, grabbing a jacket too. 

"Oh no you're not!" Seto snarled. 

__

Pound…pound…pound… 

Both ran out the door in a blind fury. 

Malik had a pillow over his ears. Ishtar was struggling to block out the noise. If he had any sense, he knew Yuugi was going to probably kill him in the morning, if he could still move. 

Suddenly, a head of white hair bolted into the living room, a small male looking panicked coming into view. 

"What's going on, these walls are supposed to be nearly sound proof!" Ishtar looked up at Ryou's wild brown eyes. 

"Don't panic. Just some interstellar business being attended to." 

Ryou noted that the other one's face, the kinder looking twin, was beat red under the pillow. He muttered to himself. "Damned space freaks. If Bakura hears this he's going to scream about the repair costs…if that lamp up there goes…" 

__

Crash! _Pound…pound…pound…_

Shuttering, he walked back to his end of the cabin, praying that his partner was still sound asleep. Hey, he had slept during the earthquake that knocked half of California into the ocean, right? 

__

Yes, but it's funny how he sleeps through the deaths of millions of people, but if one person cracks open a can of his beer they'll find their neck snapped in five seconds flat… 

__

Pound…pound…pound… 

Did Ishtar just hear Yuugi scream? Already? 

"Why do not we go stargazing for a moment, captain Ishtar?" Malik tried a feeble attempt to leave the cabin for a little while. 

"Yeah, good idea." 

__

"Gaah!" 

The door was closed faster than Malik could blink. 

~ * ~

The Captain stood outside of the door, shifting uncomfortably. According to his timing, the two had been at it for almost an hour. Still, they waited another twenty minutes after the silence had started to make sure they weren't intruding, for Jou had a very good point. They might want to see if Yuugi needed any medical attention before they got to bed that evening. 

"You open it," Ishtar said to Malik. 

"Oh no, please, be my guest," he said with genuine sincerity. Ishtar saw right through it. 

"You're the one with the over-right code."   
  
Malik frowned, punching numbers with a wobbly hand. 

The door slid obediently open, revealing a dark room. Shards of glass were strewn about the floor. Clothes were left forgotten in multiple heaps across the room. The curtains had been ripped down, and there were more stains on the carpet than Ishtar _or_ Malik cared to notice. In the light shining in from the hall, two forms were revealed slumped on the carpet in front of the bed, two heads of spiky hair not giving away who was on top and who was on bottom. 

Ishtar walked cautiously in. He may be an obnoxious man, but he wasn't stupid. 

Yuugi was lying on his back, eyes closed, with a snoozing Yami curled up on top of him for a good night's sleep. 

"Motou, wake up." He nudged his Lieutenant with the toe of his shoe. 

One purple eye was pried half-way open, barely reveling the tired and blood-shot state it was in. "What," he half snarled, half choked, voice hoarse from screaming. 

"You alive?" 

"No." 

"Ah, good." 

Malik looked hesitant. "How are you doing, Lieutenant?" 

__

Despite the fact that I just had the best sex of my life? Yuugi didn't even bother to roll his eye upward to gaze at his questioner. "My back hurts, my hips hurt, my ass if chaffing, my abdomen hurts, my legs hurt, and I'm going to sleep for the next eight years. Other than that? Peachy-fucking-keen." 

Ishtar chose this time to not correct his Lieutenant. 

Malik clapped his hands together quietly. "Oh good, I am glad to hear it!" 

Yuugi didn't bother to suppress his groan this time at the Aldar's seemingly endless pool of stupidity. 

"It might be a good idea to not get up before Yami does, Lieutenant. Aldars have been known to go mad before when they wake up to find their mating partner missing," Malik spoke up. 

"Captain Malik, I am not moving for a long, _long_ time." His one eye closed, and Yuugi had a strong feeling that he wasn't going to get it back open any time soon.

"If you don't leave now, I will personally kill you, then spend the rest of my life dancing on your grave the moment I can actually move again." 

The two captains began to shuffle out of the room. 

"Ishtar," Yuugi growled, Yami still asleep on top of him. 

"What," Ishtar asked. 

__

"You. Owe. Me. **Big**." 

Ishtar gave a feeble grin that Yuugi couldn't see as he allowed the door to close for the rest of the night. 

~ * ~

*Cackles* Poor, poor Yuugi. How could it get any worse than this? *chuckles* Just wait for the following chapters to come, our little Lieutenant is in for more trouble than he bargained for… 


	4. Malevolent Nuzzler

****

The **Twelve Days if Christmas**

Yuugi peeled his eyes open in the deary haze of sunlight, squinting at the clock on the nightstand to see what time it was. Surprisingly enough, the clock was still on and running, even though it, along with the dresser it was on, was strewn carelessly about the floor. He winced as he remembered running into that. There was a bruise on his lower back from the incident, blending in painfully with every other strenuous activity it had endured the night before. 

Struggling to get his bleary eyes to focus, he was barely able to make out the numbers 11:30. 

11:30 AM. Lovely. 

A certain Aldar was still sound asleep on top of him, oblivious of the rest of the world. 

Would Yami remember any of what happened the night before? He didn't seem too terribly aware of much else than the other body in the room. Which was, of course, none other than Yuugi. 

Yuugi lifted a shaky hand, pushing on Yami's shoulder to rouse him. "Wake up," he muttered. "Come on, it's way past morning." 

Yami didn't move. For a brief moment Yuugi was afraid that he might have died anyway. He moved his hand up to the Lieutenant's neck and felt for a pulse. 

He let out a sigh of relief when he felt the blood pumping strong. 

Yami's head moved slightly, an arm coming up to wrap around Yuugi's neck. 

And he stayed there. 

Yuugi growled, feeling his stomach eating a hole inside itself. He needed food, damn it! "Yami, wake up!" He shook his shoulders again, only to have the Aldar start nuzzling his neck. 

Yuugi tried to sit up, pushing against the carpet and the weight on top of him with all his might. 

A jolt of pain in his spine stopped him in his tracks. "Damn it!" he cursed. "Jou!" He needed help up. Yami wasn't moving, and he was currently immobilized due to bruises and gods knew what else. "Jou! Get up here!!" he bellowed. 

Yami still wasn't moving, but Yuugi swore that he saw a grin on that handsome face. Yuugi struggled to get up again, but couldn't when Yami grabbed his left hand again and placed it on his neck, holding it there firmly. 

"Jou!" 

Yuugi heard the door slide open. "What's going on," he heard the Elsarian question. 

"I can't get up, and Yami isn't moving. Where's Malik? Maybe he can tell us what's going on." 

It was silent for a moment. 

"Damn it, Jou! Stop gaping and get him!" 

"Oh, uh, sorry pal. Be back in a minute." 

Yuugi listened as the feet padded away, shortly afterwards returning with another pair. 

"Lieutenant?"   
  
"Malik," Yuugi stated. "Yami is not getting up, preferring to nuzzle me instead of moving. I can't even get up with how much pain I'm in. Not to mention the strange fact that he keeps putting my hand on his neck and holding it there. Mind explaining?"   
  
Yuugi swore that he heard Malik frown. 

"What's going on," another voice questioned gruffly. Yuugi sighed, recognizing it as Captain Ishtar who had now joined their little party. 

"You should probably hear this too," Malik started gravely. "I was afraid that this might happen. I realized last night just before I went to bed that it might occur. But I still couldn't be sure, so I stayed silent. You see, when Aldars do actually take a partner, it is for life. It is rather strange in many different races, and quite unique to our species. When we do bond for life, it is a very deep bond that can never be broken. One will die without the other. Yami might have been prematurely thrown into his mating period because he has, as it seems, bonded with Lieutenant Motou. We used to hold magic and divine destiny to bonding, but we now know that it is a simple matter of bodily chemicals of both parties matching up perfectly. Yami being around your Lieutenant, captain, is probably what triggered all of this. And although bonding can be rare amongst us, it is not uncommon. But I never dreamed that a bond could occur outside of the species. It has never happened before." 

Yuugi felt his stomach drop to his knees. 

"And how can you be sure that Yami bonded with him," Ishtar asked. 

"The neck on an Aldar is an extremely sensitive spot, reserved for only the touch of a life-bonded partner. As you can see, that is exactly where Yami is holding Yuugi's hand at the moment. And one other symptom…" 

"Which is," Jou asked. 

"Do I really want to know," Yuugi questioned helplessly. 

"Yami is doing nothing but nuzzling you." 

Yuugi blinked. Ishtar blinked. Jou blinked. "Meaning…" 

Yuugi blanched as he realized that Seto had been listening in all along. Now everyone was looking at him, on the floor, naked, with a naked Aldar on top of him who was apparently 'life-bonded' to him. Grand. 

"When an Aldar does bond, they go through twelve stages of acceptance. It is usually in one-day increments. The first stage is called '_entaleh istialeh,_' or in simpler terms, nuzzling. Yami will be…how to do you humans put it?"   
  
"Glued to the hip," Ishtar supplied. 

"Yes, exactly! Glued to the hip!"   
  
Yuugi groaned. "Is there any way that this can be stopped?"   
  
"Only if you ignore everything that Yami does over the next twelve days. And if you do, there is a ninety-eight percent chance that he will go mad." 

The earthen Lieutenant felt his heart sink. He couldn't do that. 

"I will understand if you feel the need to do as such," Malik stated sadly. "This was never meant to happen." 

The Lieutenant drew in a shaky breath, feeling Yami's hair tickle at his shoulder. "No, Captain Malik. I wouldn't do that." The room was deathly silent for a moment, people seeming to shift uncomfortably. "Someone want to help me up," Yuugi asked, "I'm hungry and could really use a shower." 

~ * ~

Yuugi stood grumpily at the kitchen counter, attempting to butter his piece of toast with half an arm. Lieutenant Tiyaku was, indeed, practically suction-cupped to his hip. The Aldar had his arms wrapped tightly around Lieutenant Motou, constantly rubbing his nose into Yuugi's neck. 

Yuugi normally wasn't much of a touch kind of person, wanting if anything a good physical relationship in the bedroom and mental and emotional support in everyday living. And in most cases he could put up with someone who was hanging on him if that is what they truly needed, but honestly. This was ridiculous. He could barely get cleaned in the shower, Yami had been holding on to him so tightly. 

The only way he could get himself and Yami dressed was by way of help from Jou. And walking was another matter entirely. 

Putting the butter knife down, Yuugi went to put the piece of strawberry-jam-slathered toast in his mouth-

Only to find his hand devoid of any such thing. 

A loud crunching noise greeted his ears when Yami took a bite of his breakfast. "Hey, that's mine!" Yuugi snarled. 

"_Melaseh_," Yami purred, taking another bite of toast. 

Growling, Yuugi put another piece of bread in the toaster. "Try to take another one and you're going to pull back a bloody stump for a hand." He felt Yami smile into his shoulder, rubbing against him affectionately. 

Yuugi felt a nerve twitch above his eye. Twelve days…only twelve days…

"Good morning, Lieutenant! Beautiful day, is it not?" 

Yuugi felt that little nerve twitch again when he heard Malik enter the kitchen. _Oh, yes, simply gorgeous_…

"So tell me, Malik…what's the second stage to all of this? Or do I want to know?" 

He looked over at Malik standing before the refrigerator, a smile crossing the Aldar captain's face. "Oh, I could not ruin the surprise for you! After all, this is one of my favorite stages. There are some others that might not be quite so pleasant for you, but some of them are truly a joy to experience." 

Yuugi 'hmmed' to himself. _Sounds ominous…_"I take it you've watched this kind of thing before?" 

"Oh yes, many times. Both of my brothers and sisters mated with other people, and I had the pleasure to watch them and their mates go through the acceptance stages. It was truly exciting!" 

Yuugi winced. Why did he have to sound so damned _happy_ all of the time!? 

"Say, what does 'melaseh' mean?" 

Malik stood upright from grabbing the container of orange juice. "It is a form of Aldarian dialect, called '_Estukenteh.'_ There are very few of us that actually speak it. Its meaning is 'mine.' Why do you ask?" 

"Yami said it when I told him that the toast he stole from me is mine." The toaster popped, and his bead came out hot and ready for jam. 

"Ah, yes. That does explain it. Lieutenant Tiyaku is from a very remote part of our world. It is no wonder he spoke it. You should feel very privileged, Lieutenant. There are even less that are allowed to hear the language, much less learn its meaning."

"Trust me, Malik. I'm ecstatic." 

~ * ~

Yuugi sat in the living room, munching on some chocolate covered popcorn. Jou had been kind enough to make some for him, being that he was still slightly immobilized at the moment. 

In all actuality, though, the rest of the day had been rather boring. Sure, Bakura had screamed when he looked at the bedroom upstairs, but Ishtar stated that he would get a reward in aiding the life-saving measures taken to help a newly met species. 

After Bakura had recuperated from the loss of his prized lamp that had shattered, he glumly agreed. 

Yami had Yuugi pulled into his lap, still firmly latched onto the Lieutenant as if the world were going to end that night. He hadn't spoken much all day long, choosing to spend all of his time on smiling and glowing with affection. Yuugi just hoped that all of the stages would be that easy to get through. If there _was_ an ugly one, he didn't want to know about it yet. 

"Getting through the night, bud?" 

Yuugi looked up as Jou walked in, sitting down with a bowl of ice cream. "I suppose. I'm curious as to what tomorrow is going to be. Maybe I'll be able to walk around and do some things. I've never been the type to sit around and do nothing." 

"True," Jou concurred, nodding his head. "But it's not like you could have done much today anyway. Your back is still killing you, isn't it?" 

Yuugi's face fell. "True. And my legs. And my abdomen. And my ribs. Who would have thought he could squeeze so hard." _Probably shouldn't have tried to give him a hickey, either. I'll bet that sent him off the deep end._

"So, ah…what do you think you're going to do with this relationship of yours after the vacation?" 

The Lieutenant frowned. "I've been giving that some thought, and I'm not sure. Ishtar would never let his tactical weapons master off his ship. How many people can not only fix, but make _and_ shoot what they make with a deadly accuracy? We haven't lost in combat since I've been on board. They might let Yami stay on our ship. Get the Aldar race more acquainted to our methods in space." He looked up at Jou. "What do you think?" 

"Something we're going to have to take up with the Head of Directors. Not to mention whatever it is that runs the Aldar space program, too." 

Yuugi rubbed his forehead. "Personally, I think it hurts to think about at the moment. After I'm done with this popcorn I'm going to bed." 

"Might want to use your bedroom," a voice behind him spoke. 

Yuugi twitched again as Seto spoke to him. "Damn it, Ensign, quite sneaking up on me like that!" 

Ensign Kaiba walked out in front of him…grinning? 

"Since when do Vulcans smile?" Yuugi asked indignantly. 

Seto shrugged. "No reason. Lieutenant Tiyaku's room, however, I hear is still in shambles." And with that he walked off outside…to his igloo. 

"I think we've had a bad influence on him," Jou stated. "He's as crazy as we are." 

"He thinks my predicament is amusing," Yuugi ground out. "He is _not_ going to be happy when I get back at him for his smugness. Oh, no. He's going to qualify for _our_ loony bins by the time I'm done with him." 

"_Petiacue_ _istahleh,_" Yami purred. 

Jou raised an eyebrow. Yuugi shook his head. "Never mind. I have no idea what it means either." 

Jou stood, stretched, then turned to Yuugi with a yawn. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow?" 

"If I'm still alive," Yuugi stated. _And if I can get up the stairs all right._ "Good night." 

Suddenly and without warning, Yami picked Yuugi up and headed towards the stairs himself, humming on his way. 

Well, guess he wasn't going to have to worry about walking. 

~ * ~

__

Petiacue istahleh- Pretty beloved

Like? Review? Hope you enjoyed! Thank you to all of my reviewers! Love you guys!


	5. Melodies of Love

****

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Lieutenant Motou peeked one of his eyes open, noticing that his heat from the night before was now missing, and his bed going uncomfortably cold. He hadn't really noticed the extra heat the first half of the night until he had woken up from a strange noise. 

His eyes had been pried open, for he had been in a blissfully deep sleep, and noticed that he had been securely wrapped up in the Aldar's warm embrace, his face pressed up against Yami's chest. Yes, Lieutenant Tiyaku had refused to let go of him even after falling asleep, too. 

Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have woken up, but he realized that night as he watched Yami's chest rise and fall with his breaths that Aldars do, in fact, purr. 

That's right, purr. Just like a little kitten. 

After his initial shock, Yuugi started warming up to the idea, finding it rather amusing, and let the melodic drum lull him back to sleep. 

But now his bed was empty, and he didn't hear or see anything in his bedroom. Just what was that Aldar going to be up to today? 

Shrugging, he got up, noticing that his back was still a bit sore, and jumped into a steaming shower that helped alleviate his sore muscles of some of their strain. 

After fumbling into his clothes for the day, he traipsed down stairs and into the kitchen, the only thing really on his mind being food and more food. 

"Morning bud, how are you feeling today?" Jou was at the stove, cooking himself some eggs and bacon. 

"Fine, if not a little less sane than I used to be." He grabbed the gallon of milk out of the fridge. "Is there enough of that bacon left for me?" 

"Yeah, everyone else has eaten." The Elsarian set down the spatula, turning to look at his friend. "Say…where's Yami?" 

Yuugi shrugged. "Hell if I know. I woke up this morning and he was gone." Retrieving a glass from the cupboard, he poured himself some milk and sat down at the table. 

Jou frowned. "Wonder what he's up to." 

"Good question." 

The two were silent for a moment as they contemplated, suddenly hearing footsteps as another body joined the room. "Oh, Lieutenant Motou! Wonderful morning to you! How are you today, friend?" 

Yuugi winced as Malik walked cheerful his way towards the fridge, pulling out a can of soda. Mornings and perkiness did _not_ go well in together. "Simply grand, Captain. Yourself?" 

"Spectacular!" 

Jou sat down at the table with a large plate of food. "The rest is on the stove, Yuugi, if you still want some." 

"Thanks." He got up and dished himself up a generous plate. 

A deep baritone voice was drifting their way from somewhere in the depths of the living room, growing louder as it drew closer. Confused and yet frightened at the same time, Lieutenant Motou sat down and looked on as the voice entered the kitchen area. 

"_Motrou liato, enta lia seeya! Ii ahh, seya! Litou seyna!_" 

Yuugi looked up with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as Yami paraded in, singing in his strange tongue and dancing to an unheard tune. 

Jou's fork stopped in mid flight to his mouth, his jaw dropped slack as he starred at the Aldar dancing through the kitchen, eventually finding his way over to Yuugi. "_Nya, seya, mitrou lio sahh! Inta seho, lio elo sahaa!!!_" Wrapping his arms around Yuugi in what was unmistakably a bear hug, his gave the earthen Lieutenant a bruising kiss before heading back out of the room. "_I'll love my love, meya teno seyla!_" 

Jou had yet to eat the now cold food on his fork. Yuugi sat clutching at his chest, unusually frightened for the first time in his life. "And…and…that was…" 

"Oh, _Sehala Mi-ala_, the day of the song," Malik spoke up happily. "What a beautiful melody for him to have picked." 

"Hell of a voice he has," Jou finally said. He shook his head, eating another bite of egg. "I suppose this is going to go on all day?" 

"Indeed," Malik stated. 

"Tell me this is the most radical of the days yet to come," Yuugi rasped out. 

"Radical," Malik questioned. He was silent as he thought of the translation of the word. "I think that they are all rather radical, Lieutenant. But enjoyable just the same." 

Yuugi's face fell. "My luck seems to just keep getting better and better." 

~ * ~

Yuugi lay slumped on the living room couch, hearing Lieutenant Tiyaku parade around the cabin singing like an opera singer. Earlier he had been at the usual folk-song style, then somehow switched to country-Yuugi had still yet to figure out just where he heard _that_- and then a type of monotone chant. By far he sounded better with opera, as odd as it might seem. 

Yami walked into the living room, sitting down next to Yuugi and pulling him on his lap, singing a lullaby as he gently rocked him. "Jou!" Yuugi cried. "Help!" 

The blonde Elsarian poked his head into the living room. 

__

"Astu, leetu, melatah halya entu…" Yami smiled and nuzzled his face affectionately. 

"What do you want me to do?" Jou asked exasperatedly. 

Yuugi pouted. "Make him go back to opera?" 

"Why don't you ask him?" 

Yuugi frowned hard, getting drowned in Yami's affection. "You think it'll work?" 

Jou shrugged. "No harm in trying." 

__

"Petah, eyata, lestanke eetu…" 

"Uh, Yami, do you think you could go back to opera? Please?" 

Yami continued to rock him back and forth. "_Melatah halya entu…"_

"Hey, what's _Estukenteh_ for opera? Go find Malik." 

"Got ya." Jou turned and left, actually finding that he, too, rather enjoyed the Aldars deep voice in the old-styled music. 

Yuugi sat and drummed his fingers on his thigh as Yami remained oblivious of his previous comment, happily singing away and gently rocking him. 

Finally the padding of feet came back, and Malik looked at Yuugi's highly annoyed face, being held tightly by his Lieutenant. "Can I help you, Lieutenant Motou?" 

"How do I ask him to sing opera again in _Estukenteh_?" 

Malik was silent for a moment as he thought of the translation. "_Mitanke, istahleh, isato mileteh pentenkeh?_"

Yuugi relayed the strange words with a dialect that was rather accurate, if not a little clumsy. 

Yami's eyes grew wide for a moment as he starred at Yuugi, his face suddenly breaking out in a fabulous smile, kissed Yuugi deeply for the…fifth time?…that day, then got up and paraded out of the room, singing opera at the top of his lungs. 

"What _exactly_ did I say, Captain Malik?" 

"Technically, you said 'Lover, beloved, sing opera for me please?' I figured it would have more of an impact." 

"I'll say," Yuugi stated, rolling back onto the couch to lay down, still unable to get rid of that slight sting in his lower back. "I'd swear it was like Christmas for him." 

"Christmas," Malik questioned, his head cocked to the side. 

"The reason we're on vacation," Jou stated. "A human holiday that seems to have a lot of meaning to them. Everyone gets gifts from friends and loved ones, complete with a big meal." 

"Oh, that sounds lovely," Malik stated. "I'll have to find gifts for all of you!" He left heading back upstairs. 

Yuugi shook his head. "I'll never get over their perky attitude, will I?" 

"Not unless I do, too," Jou replied. 

Feet pounded down the stairs two at a time. "Isn't there ever any peace and quiet in this place?"   
  
"Never!!" Yuugi yelled, then gave an insane cackle to go with it. 

Growling, Seto headed outside. "I'm requesting a transfer. You people are getting crazier every day!" The door slammed behind him. 

"He still loves us," Jou replied, going back into the kitchen for some lunch. 

__

"Entanka, milaata tue melah!" 

~ * ~

Ishtar stormed into the den, intent on getting _some_ order established inside of the cabin. "Motou!" 

__

"Ruestenke miitah, iilah!" 

"Yes, Captain?" 

__

"Iitah, entah, miilah…!"

"Can't you get him to be quiet!?" 

"_Mistakeh mitahle issantah metiah!!!_" 

"Sorry, Captain, unless you'd like him to sing some old westerns that only Kami-samma knows where he dug up." 

"_Mitanke estu milah!_" 

"Malik!!!" Ishtar roared. 

Feet padded into the den. "Yes, Captain Ishtar?" 

"Can't you get you're Lieutenant to be a little more quiet? The caretakers threatened my grave unless I could get some quiet in here!" 

"_Ittahnkeh, mi-tah_!"

"Umm…Lieutenant Motou?" 

"Yes?" 

"Could you repeat this?" 

"All right." 

" '_Istahleh, whespirah penteh melu_.'"

Yuugi did as he was told. 

Yami stopped singing, blinked, then looked at Yuugi blankly for a moment. Suddenly he smiled softly, walked over, wrapped Yuugi up in a soft hug, and began to whisper his singing instead. 

Malik turned back to Ishtar. "Better?" 

Ishtar's eye began to twitch. "You couldn't have done this in the beginning of the day?" 

Malik blinked owlishly at him. "No one asked." 

Yuugi saw his captain's hands clench and unclench at his sides, and he could see as the blood rushed to Ishtar's face. This was always a sign of a dangerous mood for his captain, and most of the time his crew members were ducking for cover whenever he was about to explode. 

"Getting ready for bed, captain?" Yuugi asked out of the blue. "I know that I'm fixing to. Yami's actually a pretty sound sleeper, aside from his purring." 

Ishtar stopped in mid growl. "Purring?" 

"Yeah. He purrs." 

Ishtar blinked. Yuugi could almost hear the gears squeaking inside of his head. Suddenly he laughed. "Now that's a talent!" The captain left for his room without another word. 

Malik looked back at Yuugi confused. "What just happened?" 

"We just avoided a national disaster, that's what happened, Captain Malik. Count your blessings." 

"Hmm," Malik thought.

"Good night, Captain Malik." 

"Good night, Lieutenant." 

Suddenly, Yami stood up, carrying Yuugi upstairs, still softly singing a melodious tune. Yuugi grinned in achievement. So he _had_ been right. Say goodnight to someone and Yami would pick him up and carry him upstairs for bed. He could deal with that, at least it wouldn't be hard getting through to him that the day was finally over. 

Malik sat back down in the living room when Yuugi left, probably ready to flip through TV Land and find all of the old 'Bewitched' and 'I love Lucy' re-runs. The television for some strange reason absolutely fascinated the Aldars ever since they had arrived. 

Odd race of people, they were.

~ * ~

Well, I hope that was okay. I've got some scary days yet to come, and fun, and fluffy, and simply strange…two down…ten to go. 


	6. TongueTied

****

The Twelve Days of Christmas 

Lieutenant Motou yawned and stretched languidly in his bed, now becoming unusually accustomed to having warm arms wrapped tightly around him from dusk until dawn. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes with a tired hand, watching as ruby eyes blinked open in front of him. 

Yami's eyes dilated as they focused to the dim light in the room, the curtains keeping most of the sunlight from pouring through. 

"Morning, Yami," Yuugi greeted. 

Crimson orbs looked at him confusedly, then suddenly grew wide when they noticed their extremely close proximity. The Aldar's mouth suddenly dropped slack. 

__

Wonder what he'll be up to today, Yuugi thought with slight exasperation. 

Yami said nothing, but Yuugi was able to clearly see the deep red blush spreading widely across the Aldar Lieutenant's face. 

__

He's…shy? Is he going to be blushing all day long? Not say a word to me like a love-struck little girl? Yuugi thought this over, thoughtful as he watched Yami's dumbfounded face. The Aldar was trying to stutter some form of a response, but was unable to get past the '_ah, eh…see ah…erm…ah…'_

Lieutenant Motou couldn't stop himself from smiling, remembering what that one thing was that love-sick people always yearned for. 

He kissed Yami quickly, lingering longer than usual, then got up to shower, enjoying the look of sheer joy, shock, and absolute embarrassment on Yami's beat red face…which was slowly turning a slight purple in hue. 

"See you down stairs, Yami. I'm sure breakfast is already on the table." 

Yami's mouth opened and closed like a drowning fish, but Yuugi by no means missed the slight smile that grazed that handsome face. And besides, if Yami wasn't to be ignored to keep him from going mad, today would be one of those days where he just might have to pour the attention on _Yami._

Yuugi almost stopped at the thought that he might actually be _enjoying_ himself. 

No. He couldn't be. Absolutely silly. Ridiculous. Absurd. Anyone could have a _little_ fun in his position. 

Of course this was the case. And he had to repeat this to himself throughout the whole shower, too. And down the stairs. And into the kitchen. And while sitting at the dining room table…

~ * ~

Yuugi poured himself a glass of chocolate milk, deciding that he deserved a chance to splurge on something that wasn't entirely good for him for once in his life. 

"More snow's on the way," Ishtar grumbled from the doorway, eyeing Jou who was cooking breakfast. Yuugi was grateful that at least _one_ of their members enjoyed making meals, because he knew that he sure didn't. 

"How much," the Elsarian asked, flipping a flap-jack. 

"Eight inches, or so they say." 

Yuugi frowned as he sipped his milk. "I never have liked meteorologists. They get paid to guess at things their whole life. They still get a pay check even if they're wrong. We guess wrong and we kill eight hundred people and a town or two, then live as a hermit the rest of our life." 

Ishtar growled again lowly. Yuugi often wondered if he ever truly ascended from their ape brethren. "Patience. Revenge is a dish best served cold…" 

Yuugi shivered at the statement, knowing very well the below-freezing temperatures currently out side. 

"So, ah…Yug. How's Yami today," Jou asked, changing the conversation. 

Yuugi sighed audibly. "Shyer than a little child with a crush." 

His captain gave a sound that sounded something like a bark and a snort. "This 'ought to be interesting." 

Yuugi shook his head, got up, and disappeared into the pantry for some instant oatmeal. He heard Yami enter the kitchen. "Good morning, everyone!" 

"Ah…mornin' Lieutenant," he heard Ishtar reply. Yuugi wondered at being able to speak English again. Perhaps with the other stages it was instincts that were driving his actions, thus forcing him to rely on the one language he knew best? Perhaps this stage was not so bad? 

…Would he be coherent today? 

Yuugi found the peaches and cream oatmeal, his favorite, and reentered the kitchen. "Have a nice shower, Yami?" He asked kindly. 

The Aldar's eyes locked on him and his mouth went slack again, all speech leaving him. Yuugi blinked at him calmly. Red graced Yami's cheeks, his neck, even the tips of his ears, and his speech became stuttered and spluttered responses again. 

Yuugi crossed the length of the kitchen to grab a bowl for his oatmeal, standing closely to Yami's side as he reached up to the tall cabinets. He always hated being so short. 

"Good morning, everyone! Is it not another beautiful day?" 

Yuugi felt the little nerve above his eye twitch as Captain Malik waltzed into the kitchen area. It was a good thing they had a lot of room. 

"Perky again this morning, captain?" Yuugi ground out. 

"Always on gorgeous days!" Malik headed to the fridge, nodding at Yami as he went past. "Lieutenant," he greeted happily. 

Yami was still stuttering with barely half a response. 

Malik stopped and raised one eyebrow to his hair line, looking at his Lieutenant curiously. "Ah," he said after a moment. "_Be-et hetu._" He proceeded to the fridge. 

Yuugi brushed past Yami, noticing mildly shocked that he almost toppled over at the contact as Yuugi went to get a spoon. 

Ishtar noticed his almost imperceptible grin. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" 

Yuugi shrugged nonchalantly. "Wouldn't you, if you were able to get reactions like this?" He gave a small pinch to the Aldar's lower rear, causing Yami to audibly squeak, glow about ten different shades of red, a mixture of a shocked expression and a satisfied smile on his face. 

Jou shook his head as he finished with the pancakes. "Yug, you're getting to have too much time on your hands. I know that your grandfather used to keep you hooked on games so that you didn't become destructive."

Yuugi huffed indignantly. "It's not my fault I could make plutonic blasters when I was nine! I had to test out my equipment to make sure it worked!" 

Malik looked up at Yuugi shocked from the table. "And where did you get plutonium at such a young age?" 

Yuugi flushed slightly. "I lived next door to a chemical plant that produced large amounts of radioactive materials for the government. They, ah…they never paid much attention if a forgotten barrel of something happened to go missing." 

The Aldar captain was stuck speechless that humans could be so careless. 

"Not," Ishtar growled. "You snuck in and took small amounts in SC's when you found them and snuck out without a peep. You're _also_ one of our best infiltrators. You're a terrible liar, though." 

"SC's," Malik asked. 

"Safe Containers," Jou supplied. "The things we use for transporting dangerous materials from point A to point B."   
  
"Ah. Safe Storage Units. I understand." 

Yuugi could only snort at his captain, choosing to instead eat his meal. 

"Is Yami going to eat this morning," Jou asked Malik. 

"Of course he will, as soon as Yuugi leaves the room. So long as he is in here, Yami will not move a muscle." 

Yuugi shrugged as everyone looked at him. "All right, I'll leave. We don't want him to starve." He took his bowl of instant oatmeal out into the living room. 

The moment Yuugi _was_ out of sight, Yami seemed to snap back to reality and grabbed himself a plate and a few flap-jacks for himself. 

"Feeling okay there, Yami?" Ishtar hazarded. 

"Of course, I feel fine," Yami stated unfazed. 

"What do you think about Yuugi at the moment," Jou asked curiously. 

The Lieutenant suddenly froze, his face becoming all red again. He seemed unable to speak. 

"Never mind," Jou stated, and Yami cleared his throat and seated himself without another word. 

The rest of breakfast was, for the most part, awkwardly quiet for the duration of the meal. 

~ * ~ 

Yuugi was slumped on the den couch, watching a new action movie with Jou. Both were downing popcorn and sodas that had been stored in the back room, rather unfazed as the main character was blasted by a ray gun by the man-eating Vulcans that had landed to consume the earth. 

"Man, everyone knows that ray guns can't cut flesh. They're nothing but glorified stun-guns," Jou complained. 

"Even after so many years of business, Hollywood is still producing cheesy films," Yuugi piped in. They fell silent again as they continued to watch the movie. 

"Motou!" A gruff voice hollered from the hall. 

"Go away," Yuugi hollered back. 

Some shuffling noises drifted their way, and as the main-character's love interest was just mortally wounded, Ensign Kaiba stalked into the living room pulling a stuttering Yami by the collar. "I found _this_ sitting in the hallway spying on you as I went to the recreation room. _Do_ something with him, _please_," Seto growled, pushing the Aldar closer to the couch. 

Yuugi sighed as he looked at Yami's beat-red face, knowing that it probably wasn't a good idea to just leave him to sit in the hallway like that. 

Jou watched curiously as Yuugi reluctantly got up and pulled Yami by his hand towards the couch. "Sit," Yuugi commanded, pushing on the Aldar's shoulders until he was seated. 

Yami looked as if he was going to lose the ability to breathe shortly as Yuugi sat down in his lap, pulling the Aldar's arms around his waist and holding him there. "This 'ought to keep you out of trouble," Yuugi stated, looking quite comfortable between Yami's legs. 

Lieutenant Tiyaku swallowed the lump in his throat, smiled past his blush, and shyly hid his face in Yuugi's hair as the movie continued. 

"Don't tell me that's the movie _Vulcan Cannibals_," Seto snarled. 

"Ensign, they've made cannibal movies about every race humans have come in contact with, don't feel too special," Yuugi stated. 

"They haven't about Aldars," he snapped back. 

"Give 'em time," Jou stated, polishing off his popcorn. "They've only just met them. You should have seen the one about Elsarians! Talk about making Norman Rockwell look like the devil in disguise!" 

  
Seto stalked off before they could make anymore comments. It was a small wonder that Humans and Elsarians got along so well. Both had histories of cannibalism and psychosis running through their gene pools. 

He took a deep breath to regain his calm. He was definitely, _definitely_ sending in for that transfer. 

~ * ~

Yuugi yawned as he looked out the window, noticing that the clouds outside were now completely dark. The sun was down, and that big storm had headed in. Malik stood from the book he was reading, ready to head for bed himself. 

"Say, Captain Malik," Yuugi asked softly, not wanting to awaken Yami from his snooze quite yet. 

"Yes, Lieutenant," Malik questioned. 

"When will Yami be able to speak coherently with me again?" 

"Not until the twelve days are up, Lieutenant. Anything to do with you he will be unable to speak about until this is all over." 

Yuugi rolled this around in his mind. "Will he speak English tomorrow?" 

"It all depends on how severe his stage is. It is different for every Aldar who has life-bonded." 

So, in other words, Yuugi deduced that this was by no means an exact science. Rather like Humans and their own tendencies with love. 

Fantastic. 

"One more thing," Yuugi asked, Yami's breath raining down his neck. "What's _Estukenteh_ for goodnight?" 

Malik blinked as he thought of the translation. "_Kunigh,_" he stated. 

Yuugi suddenly understood how Yami could understand him earlier. Both words sounded very similar. "Thank you, Malik. _Kunigh_ for now. I'll see you in the morning." 

"_Kunigh,_ friend," Malik smiled, walking up the stairs to his bedroom. 

__

Three days down. Nine to go.

Yes. Goodnight indeed. 

~ * ~

Hmm…it seems that when I don't update I get strange peoples emailing me telling me to do so. 

….I feel so loved! ^_^ 

Gomen about the tardiness, gotta love homework, don't ya know! 

Ja Ne for now! 


	7. Thy Wretched Snarls

**The Twelve Days of Christmas**

As usual, the snoring resounding in his hair awoke Yuugi that morning. It was truly a strange snore, as he was coming to realize. It was very quiet, sounding more akin to a purr.

Not that he was complaining. It was actually quite endearing to wake up to.

Yawning as he pushed the sleep from his eyes, Yuugi became aware of the arms wrapped tightly around him. Yami was actually holding on to him more tightly than the previous morning. Turning to face Yami, he tried to sit up and wake him, finding the task to be, instead, rather difficult. Yami pulled him closer, hugging him like a child would a plushie.

Yuugi sighed in frustration, wanting his usual shower and some breakfast. "Yami," he tried, poking the Aldar in the chest. "Yami, wake up!"

"Grr…hmn..fhmhm," Yami mumbled, nuzzling his face into Yuugi's hair. Yuugi sighed hard into Yami's chest. "Yami!" He cried. It didn't seem to do any good.

All right. He had a problem on his hands. He wanted a shower and food, and he had a snoozing Aldar Lieutenant immobilizing him to his bed. He needed a solution.

Of course! Think of something in Estukenteh that would wake him up. Let's see…let's see… Goodnight wouldn't do it. Neither would 'mine' either.

Maybe…Yuugi growled, unable to come up with an answer.

In his lack of ideas, Yuugi yelled out the first thing that came to mind. "_Istahleh_, wake up!"

What did that mean again?

Yami blinked his eyes open, starred at Yuugi sleepily, and smiled widely, starting to run his fingers through Yuugi's hair. "_Meeteh minyane, istahleh,"_ he purred.

That's right, Yuugi remembered now. It meant beloved.

Yami surprised him when he wrapped him up in a passionate kiss, then shocked him even further when he began to rain kissed down Yuugi's jaw line, nipping every now and again.

"Ah, ha…mmmh…Yami, ah...don't do that, I would like to get up now. Ahhh…"

Maybe Aldars had some ancestral ties to leaches, as Yuugi was coming to find out that Yami seemed to be permanently attached to his neck. _Oh, this hickey is going to be a big one…_ Without meaning to, Yuugi arched his back, causing him to become spooned against Yami like a little kitten. "Yami," he half growled, half pleaded. "I need my breakfast, and I…ah…mmmh…I need a shower…"

There was a crash from somewhere down the hall, snapping Yami to attention and allowing Yuugi to wrench himself free…right onto the floor.

**_Thump!_**

"Owe," Yuugi moaned, rubbing the spot on his back that suddenly began to hurt again. Cursed spine, he was never going to be able to get rid of that sting.

"_Help!_" someone cried, the continuous pounds of someone running drawing closer and closer.

"_Get back here you wretch!_"

Yuugi stood up quickly, going to his door and peering out. Just as Yami came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him, the frazzled Elsarian Jou pummeled into his room. "Hide me," he pleaded, ducking behind the two.

"What the hell's going on," Yuugi asked bewildered.

"Just hide me," Yuugi's friend pleaded.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, go in the closet if you have to."

Jou squeaked, but complied anyway, and before Yuugi could turn to go the bathroom, another person ran into his room, looking around widely.

Yuugi stopped short, looking cautiously at those crazed icy-blue eyes. "Bakura-san," he said warily. "What are you doing here?"

The deranged caretaker looked at him angrily. "Where's the Elsarian? I've got a _bone_ to pick with him."

Yuugi shivered slightly. "You've got me. I just woke up, and was on my way to the shower." Yuugi didn't talk to Bakura much, but in his opinion that was just fine. The Lieutenant was now under the impression that he was crazier than Ishtar.

Bakura growled lowly, slowly advancing on Yuugi. The Lieutenant would have backed up, too, had it not been for the fact that Yami was standing right behind him. Funny, he'd almost forgot he was there.

Yami growled dangerously, and Yuugi looked up at him in surprise, seeing the Aldar barring a set of rather impressively large canines. _So, there **is** a difference between Humans and Aldars…_

Bakura stopped his advancement, stopping in surprise himself. "Hmm, not a morning person, huh?"

Yami squeezed around Yuugi tightly, and Lieutenant Motou almost wheezed. "_Melaseh_," Yami growled dangerously. "_Me-eht tu_."

"Yami," Yuugi squeaked. "Can't breathe…"

Bakura narrowed his eyes, but seemed to believe what Yuugi had told him earlier. "If you see that blonde imp, make sure you send him my way." The white haired man turned and walked quickly away. Yami let go of Yuugi, thankfully, allowing Yuugi to breath in precious air again.

"Is he gone," Jou whispered from his closet.

"Yes, and what the hell was that about?" Yuugi demanded.

Jou stood from amidst the hanging clothes, rubbing his neck nervously. "I was eating some of the fudge, and all I said was that it needed more sugar! Honest! And then he went nuts!"

Yuugi rubbed his head. "You Elsarians and your obsession with sugar. The fudge was fine in my opinion, but you probably just insulted his partner's baking."

Jou shivered. "I think he's worse than Ishtar. And I can't help it that Elsarians don't have sugar on our planet! The stuff's damned good!"

Yuugi let out his breath slowly, counting backwards from ten in his head. Wouldn't it be nice when this vacation was finally over? "I'm getting in the shower," Yuugi stated finally.

As he started to walk past Jou with Yami still attached to him, Jou opened his mouth and said something. "Ah, Yug?"

"Yes?"

"I ah…I think your hickey is still wet."

Yuugi flushed hotly, growled, and headed into the bathroom.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi sat down with a pleased sigh at the kitchen table, ready to indulge in his _instant omelet_. Eggo brand waffles had come out with the rather tasty breakfast treat twenty years ago, after the fall of the _instant French toast._

"Good morning to you, Lieutenant! It is indeed another good day today! Have you taken a look outside lately? The snow is up to the windows!"

Yuugi almost chocked on his breakfast as the combined perkiness of Captain Malik's voice hit him and the startling revelation of the fact that they were currently snowed in.

The little nerve above his eye twitched again. _Perkiness, mornings, and now we're snowed in. Oh, **baaaaaad** combination…_

Malik walked up to him, extending his hand full of chocolate. "Fudge?"

"No thanks," Yuugi replied.

Yami walked back up to Yuugi from the pantry, growling at Malik as he did so and wrapping possessive arms around Yuugi. "_Knu me-eht!_" He cried. "_Melaseh!_"

Malik's eyebrows went to his hairline, and he looked rather startled. "Lieutenant?" Yuugi could see the gears in his head begin to spin. "Oh, I understand now. _Re-eth be_. He'll be quite possessive today."

"Hn. I hadn't noticed, captain," Yuugi replied sarcastically.

"Really?" Malik asked surprised.

Yuugi smacked his forehead, and Yami growled again.

Footsteps behind him captured Yuugi's attention, and he noticed as Ishtar traipsed into the kitchen as well. "Motou," he greeted.

"Captain," he replied.

Ishtar looked at him and smirked, something that usually put Yuugi on edge for hours. "Nice hickey."

Yuugi growled, covering his neck.

"Oh my, where did you get that, Lieutenant," Malik asked him worriedly.

"Yami was imitating a leach this morning," he stated bluntly.

Malik blushed deeply, but didn't bother to comment further.

"So, who want to make tunnels in the snow," Ishtar questioned. "And I'd better get an answer. Kaiba is still outside in his igloo, and I won't have the Vulcan council after my ass for letting him freeze out there."

Yuugi sighed audibly. "All right, I'll get my radon laser. I guess someone's got to go and 'rescue' the ice cube."

Ishtar waved him off. "No, just find it and give it to Ensign Jou. He needs something to keep him busy, and to keep him out of Bakura's hair, too. If you didn't notice this morning, I came quite close to losing him as a living crew member."

"He hid in my closet," Yuugi commented.

"Ah, good, so I've got you to thank for saving his scrawny rear end."

Yami continued to glare daggers at Malik and Ishtar, but Ishtar seemed to remain oblivious of that for the duration of breakfast.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

_"Ahh!!! Jou! You freak! Why the hell are **you** here?_!"

_"Ah, shut up Kaiba! I never said I wanted to help you!_"

Yuugi sat in the living room, listening to the sound of the two Ensigns yelling and bickering with each other coming through the snow tunnel. Seto had begun to be even more uncooperative lately, and Yuugi couldn't exactly place why. _Usually_ he just ignored everyone around him, and he was quite good at it. At the moment, though, he was lashing out and reacting badly to everyone but the captains.

The front door was open to nothing but snow, and luckily it was sticky enough that it didn't come pouring through. Jou used the laser gun that Yuugi had built (and luckily brought along) to blast his way through to get to the igloo outside.

_"Katsuya, I'm going to rip you limb from limb!_"

In fact…the person he was getting along least with lately was Jou.

Yuugi shivered slightly as Yami nipped at his earlobe. "Don't you ever quite," he snapped, having to reposition his legs. Yami smiled, reaffirming his hold around Yuugi's waist.

_"Do that, and I'm going to report you! You **know** the Admiral is just **waiting** to fry your ass!_"

_"I'll show you fried ass!_"

Yuugi heard Jou squeak, and then suddenly saw him jump out of the snow tunnel and land at his feet. His wide blue eyes looked at Yuugi pleadingly. "I think he's going to kill me! Help! You're a higher rank!"

Ensign Kaiba pounded into the living room, looking from Jou angrily, then Yuugi in an almost blind fury. "Let me kill him, Lieutenant. You won't miss him."

"Oh, I may not, Ensign, but NASA sure will. If you kill a navigations specialist, you'll find yourself navigated to the lethal injection chair." Jou looked up at Yuugi with fake hurt in his eyes, and Yuugi simply shrugged at him.

Kaiba snarled savagely, but left just the same. "Stay out of my way, Jonouchi, or it'll be the death of you yet!"

_"Meyelestuk ke-et!_" Yami yelled after him, teeth barred.

Jou looked up at Yami questioningly. "We have got to figure out what he's saying all of the time."

Yuugi simply sighed. "He's good at keeping people at bay, that I have to admit. Did you notice his canines? I'd swear they were like a vampire!"

"Oh yeah, didn't you know that Aldars are even more carnivorous than humans? They _love_ their meet."

Yuugi felt his hickey. "Yeah…I'm beginning to notice."

Jou frowned, noticing the action. "Better hope there isn't a day when he becomes physically fixated on you."

"Don't jinx me, Jou," Yuugi pleaded. "I've already got enough on my hands."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi let out all of his breath, feeling the weight of the day leaving him. It was night, thankfully, and it was nearly time for bed.

He was rather surprised at just how quickly the days were moving for him. Already four were down, and just eight more to go.

Well…just eight…he didn't know what else was on the way. He _hoped_ it was nothing too stressful, such as what Jou proposed earlier that day.

But if they were funny, such as when Yami literally _snapped_ at Ishtar that afternoon, Yuugi could get used to it. The Earthen captain actually had to move his hand away from Yuugi's soda; otherwise he'd have lost a finger.

Yuugi was just grateful neither of them was subject for a court marshal yet. At least not until Yami was back to his normal self again.

"Off to bed yet, Lieutenant?" Malik asked him from the doorway to the den. "Most everyone else already has."

"Yeah, just about. I was just letting Yami finish of his chocolate pudding. He loves that stuff, you know?" Yuugi watched as Yami happily licked off another spoon full.

"Yes, he always has been on the strange side. The favorite dish of most Aldars is usually a rare steak or seafood."

Yuugi rolled this around in his head. "I suppose that it only fits that he'd be the first Aldar to life bond with a human."

"Yes, I suppose so."

The two fell silent for the moment, and Yami sighed contentedly, putting the now-empty container on the side table, resting his head sleepily on Yuugi's shoulder.

"I think it's time for bed," Malik observed. "_Kunigh,_ friend. We will see each other again in the morning."

"_Kunigh_," Yuugi replied. "See you on the morrow."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Oh, just wait till the next chapter… Review for me? Pretty please?


	8. The Domino Effect

The Twelve Days of Christmas 

A note to a reviewer:

High-Elf Swordsman wrote:

Uh...not a bad story but I have something to say:  
THEY'RE JAPANESE! Therefore, they are most likely Buddhist or Shinto as only about 2.5% are Christian. Sorry if I sound mean but next time, do a holiday they'd actually celebrate.

To High Elf Swordsman:

I thank you for the review, and I do realize that most of the populace is, indeed, Buddhist or Shinto. In fact, not only do I have relatives who live in Osaka, but also I have intently studied the art and architecture of Japan. Please, if I could kindly point out to you:

So far, only one person in the entire cast has made any references to the Japanese, and that is when Yuugi said _Oh, 'Kami-samma, what was he in for?_' And referred to Bakura as '_Bakura-san._' If you failed to notice, Jou is an Elsarian. Seto is a Vulcan. Yami and Malik are Aldars, Bakura and Ryou, as they live in the U.S., are probably American, and it is thus far unspecified just what nationality Ishtar is from. Being as they are apart of the NASA administration, they will most likely follow the American calendar, and they will also take their yearly break during the winter. This story is not centered in Japan, nor is it filled with a 'Japanese' cast. It is an Alternate Universe. All of this I was aware of, took into account, and wrote on purpose.

Again, thank you for the criticism, though, and anyone is welcome to flame or criticize, but you'd better be able to back up what you claim. (Such as the spelling errors. I almost always get those, it's just one of my curses.)

And besides, it's not like this is going to be published, it's a f fan fiction. It's meant to be written for enjoyment and adapted so that other people can relate to it.

Thank you. 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi yawned that morning before he opened his eyes up, grumbling as he heard Jou screeching down the hall. "_Seto, leave me alone! Ishtar, help!_"

Uh, oh. If Jou was asking Ishtar for help, they had a _serious_ problem on their hands. _And so damned early in the morning, too._

Yuugi rolled over and saw Yami smiling in his sleep, purring contentedly. He couldn't help but smile, too. _Admit it, you hard ass. You're starting to really like him._

Yuugi frowned at himself. Could he? _Damn it, I can't help it! He's growing on me! I've always had a soft spot for cats, and it doesn't help that Yami only purrs whenever he's around only me! Why shouldn't I say he's mine?_

Not to mention the fact that he was a damned good kisser…

But was there any kind of connection that Yuugi was going to be able to have?

Yami murmured in his sleep, pulling Yuugi closer to him. "Hmm…love you….Yuugi…snnnch," Yami began to purr again, still sound asleep.

Yuugi's heart melted. How could he not?

…There was never that many people who said they loved him, honestly and truly.

"_Seto, damn it! Knock it off!_" Ishtar bellowed from the living room.

Yami blinked his eyes open, looking at Yuugi sleepily. He smiled. "_Me-en-eyet, na._" He gave Yuugi a delicate kiss, cupping his face with infinite care.

Yuugi sighed into the kiss, surprising even himself. "Good morning, Yami," he said against his lips, pushing back again and giving Yami his own kiss.

Yami's hand trembled slightly, relishing the kiss as if his life depended upon it. _It's like he sees me as the rarest treasure on earth…_

Jou tumbled into their bedroom, ruining the moment entirely. "Yuugi! Seto's going absolutely bonkers! Ishtar can't get him to stop!"

_'Jou! Get back here!_"

Jou looked panicked as he heard Seto coming his way up the stairs.

"Well, get in the closet if you have to! It seemed to work yesterday morning!" Yuugi yelled back, sitting up in bed. He was highly disgruntled at the intrusion.

The moment Jou disappeared, Kaiba stopped in mid run from the hall, looking into Yuugi's  room angrily. "Where is he," he ground out.

Yuugi was about to reply, but suddenly a large squeak sounded beside him, and he felt Yami ducking behind him for dear life. "Yami," Yuugi asked. The Aldar was shaking uncontrollably. _He's acting like a chicken! He…oh no. He's going to be like this all day._

Seto began to advance, and Yuugi snarled. "You stay back! You'll probably scare him straight into the after life!"

"Where's Jou," he growled again.

"Not here."

Seto didn't believe him, and Yuugi knew it. The only thing was, he didn't know what he was going to do once the Vulcan actually _found_ Jou.

Before Yuugi could even get out of bed, Seto dived into the closet, and the unmistakable sound of an Elsarian squeal could be heard.

Yuugi jumped up, grabbed the club that he brought with him on every trip from the corner of the room, and turned on the light in the closet.

His jaw nearly hit the floor. In fact, it would have, had it not had the jawbone connecting it to his face.

Jou was on the bottom, like he assumed would happen. Seto was on top, just like he expected to happen. But…if this was torture, it was the weakest form of torture possible.

Seto was lip-locked with Jou, and the poor Elsarian could not wrench himself free.

"Captain!" Yuugi shouted. "Captain, you'd better get your ass up here! You're not going to believe this!"

Yami squeaked again from the bed.

Two sets of feet pounded up the stairs, and suddenly both Ishtar _and_ Malik came into view. "Don't tell me Jonouchi's dead," Ishtar stated.

Yuugi shook his head. "Oh, no. Far from it." He pointed towards the closet, and the two captains took a look.

Ishtar did the same thing that Yuugi had, and Malik looked surprised. "Oh, my!" He cried. "It looks like Yami's mating period threw Ensign Kaiba into _his_ mating period! How fascinating! A chain reaction!"

Ishtar raised an eyebrow at Malik, ignoring the sounds of Jou suffocating. "Oh? And just what happens if this chain reaction affects you?"

Malik was silent for a moment. "I doubt that could happen, my mating period was just two years ago. It would be almost impossible for it to affect me."

"Uh, huh," Ishtar said.

"Guh! Captain! Help me! Please! You can't let him go through with this!" Jou had managed  to get his mouth free, but now he was going to have a hickey larger than Yuugi's.

"You're right, we should help. Yuugi, get whatever you need from this room, and lock up the closet. We don't have any antidote, and we can't let our ship's mechanic kick the bucket just because he needed a screw."

Yuugi looked back to Yami who was shivering under the covers, and felt his heart wrench a little. The poor thing. Grabbing enough clothes for the both of them, he headed towards the shaking Aldar, ready to take a shower.

"You can't _do_ that!" Jou cried. "This is cruel and unusual punishment! This planet _bans_ such things!"   
  
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Ishtar replied.

Yuugi pulled Yami off the bed, holding the trembling mass close as he headed out the door and towards the shower.

"Yug," Jou pleaded.

Yuugi cast his friend a sympathetic look. "Good luck, pal."

They heard Jou's voice become muffled as they closed the door, no doubt covered up by Seto's mouth.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi sat in the kitchen, hearing faint pounds from upstairs as he ate his eggs and toast. After every pound, Yami jumped, attempting to hide in Yuugi's side.

"Is he all right," Ishtar hazarded.

"He's fine," Yuugi replied. "He's just scared senseless today."

"_Meyatuneh_," Malik stated. "Hold him close today, Lieutenant. This is a critical day in his acceptance stages."

Yuugi gave a lazy solute.

"Captain," Malik started. "I do have a question about Humans."

"Fire away."

"How often do humans have a mating period?"   
  
Yuugi almost choked on his breakfast, and Ishtar laughed. "Well, women get their menstrual cycle once a month, but it's not going to kill them if they don't mate. Men don't have one."

"They don't," Malik asked. "How would  they ever want to procreate?"   
  
Again, Yuugi almost choked. "Captain Malik, they have done studies on men, and it has been documented that they think about sex every 5.2 seconds of every single day. They're ready to mate any time, any where."   
  
Malik's face turned about ten different shades of red. "Good gracious! How is your planet not even more overpopulated than it is?"

Ishtar frowned. "Because of the fact that women are as hard as hell to coerce into the bedroom."

"It's a balance," Yuugi piped up.

There was one final pound from above, and then all was silent.

"Pass me the milk," Yuugi asked. Malik shoved the container across the table, coming a few feet within Yami, who instantly cried out, attempting to hide behind Yuugi.

"Would anyone like to partake in a group movie time," Malik asked. "I noticed a strange one called _Vulcan Cannibals_ on the shelf."

Yuugi smiled, and Ishtar laughed. "How about an old animated one I found, called _Ice Age,"_ Ishtar asked. "I'm sure that it's so old fashioned we're going to laugh our asses off all afternoon."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi shifted warily in front of his bedroom door, quite afraid to proceed. Jou was without a doubt out of commission for the rest of the day, if not the next couple of days. The medic kit in his right hand felt unusually heavy as he held it next to his side. He was not looking forward to what was inside of his closet at the moment. _And who says there aren't monsters in your closet when you're young? Seto Kaiba is monster enough for me._

Yuugi pushed the button, and the door slid open soundlessly, but Yami still jumped next to him, squeaking as he did so, and clung even tighter to Yuugi's side. The earthen Lieutenant almost toppled over for the…eight time?… that day. "Damn it Yami, it's just the door opening up! Quit being such a chicken!"

Yami looked up at him sadly, his lip trembling slightly.

Yuugi bit his lower lip. "I…didn't mean it, honest. I promise everything's okay."

Yami lowered his head almost obediently, shying his eyes away into Yuugi's sleeve. Yuugi felt really, _really_ guilty, and hugged Yami close. The Aldar leaned into the touch like a little puppy, simply sucking up the attention as if his life depended on Yuugi's comfort. _I need a reality check_, Yuugi realized, gently giving the Aldar kisses on his forehead.

Resigned as his next task, Yuugi walked into his bedroom, and opened up the closet door.

The light was…still on, and there were two figures passed out on the floor.

"Jou," Yuugi tried. "Jou, are you all right?"

"……Guuuuuh." The Elsarian rolled his head off to the side, bleary blue eyes blinking owlishly up at Yuugi. "Yug," he tried.

"Yeah," Yuugi asked. "How are you?"

The blonde winced. "Pain…lots of pain." He pushed Seto off of him, revealing a body that was covered in bite marks and bruises. Yuugi winced. Not even Yami had gone as far as to bite him, they simply ran into a lot of things.

Bending down next to his friend, Yuugi opened up the kit and began to start cleaning the wounds. Jou hissed when the rubbing alcohol hit his damaged flesh, causing Yami to squeal and jump behind Yuugi again.

"Hey…thanks pal. These were starting to hurt."

Yuugi waved him off. "Don't worry about it. I think Yami and I will sleep in his room tonight. I believe the caretakers cleaned it up a while ago."

Jou sighed. "So I don't have to get up?"

Yuugi chuckled. "No, you don't have to get up. But you do have to roll over, just so I can check your back."

Jou grumbled, but complied anyway, rolling over and revealing a large abrasion. Yuugi grimaced. "Jou, this looks bad! What happened?"

Jou sighed. "Vulcans have very sharp nails."

Yuugi finished wiping the cuts down, and put gauze covering over it. "Well, it's almost dark, so everyone will be hitting bed shortly. I was just going to have some fudge before I went to bed myself. You won't see anyone until morning," Yuugi stated as Jou rolled back over. Kaiba was still snoring off to the side.

"Thanks again, Yug. I really, _really_ appreciate this. My back does, too."

Yuugi nodded. "Just…be careful around Seto tomorrow. You may not have, but _I've_ been around a just bonded Vulcan, and they're always crabby around everyone but their new bedmate."

Jou visibly winced. "Thanks for the heads-up. I'm going to need it." He was silent for a moment. "How do you know that Seto actually…bonded with me?"

Yuugi gave a wry smile. "Oh, that's simple. He wanted to kill you. That in itself is enough of an explanation."

Jou frowned. "Lucky me."

Yami cried out as he saw the opened medic kit next to him, and jumped around to the other side, shaking into Yuugi's embrace. "Yeah, lucky me too," Yuugi responded. He shrugged. "Ah, hell. I'm off to bed. See you in the morning, Ensign."

"In the morning," Jou yawned, rolling over on to his side. It was going to be a long night full of a hard, dead sleep.

_Five down…seven to go._

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Review? Please?


	9. Chuckles of Hope

**The Twelve Days of Christmas**

Yuugi gave a huge yawn, allowing his arms to drape across the still sleeping Aldar's chest. This bed felt vastly different than the one he was used to sleeping on. He wanted his other room back. At least on the other bed he and Yami had started to create grooves where they slept every night. And by the Gods, did he like his beds with the grooves in them. _So_ much more comfortable than brand new beds.

_So_ much more.

Yami moved slightly next to him, his muscles starting to stretch just a little. Ruby eyes blinked open and gazed at Yuugi, sleep still evident in their depths.

"Good morning, Yami," Yuugi smiled, leaning in to give him a kiss. He realized that no one, not _anyone_ could get a smile out of him in the mornings. Some of his buddies on the ship he was stationed on even collectively got him a shirt that proclaimed _'Instant Human, just add coffee.'_

Apparently, they thought it was much funnier than him.

Suddenly, just as Yuugi's lips touched Yami's, the Aldar Lieutenant broke out in a fit of giggles. Yuugi sighed hard. "Damn, Yami, talk about ruining the moment."

Yami laughed harder.

The Earthen Lieutenant rubbed his face in exasperation. "I'm getting in the shower. I'll see you downstairs." He got up, grabbed his clothes, and was about to step out of the room when an arm wrapped around his waist, and suddenly Yami was leaning on Yuugi for support, still giggling uncontrollably.

"What a beautiful way to start out the day," Yuugi said to himself, but Yami seemed to think that it was hilarious.

Marching down the hall, he went to turn the knob on the bathroom door, but strangely found it locked. "Hey," he complained. "Who the hell's in there?! You know I get first dibbs on the shower every morning!!" He pounded angrily on the door. "Open up!"

The door burst open and a very angry looking Kaiba poked his head out, wrapped up in a towel. "Beat it, Motou! Jou and I have it this morning!"

Yami kept laughing.

"You shut up too, Aldar! Nobody asked you!!!"

Maybe Yami would laugh a lung up?

"Get. Out," Yuugi growled angrily.

"We'll take as damn long as we like," Seto barked back.

"I'll have you court marshaled!" Yuugi threatened. "Get out!"

"No!"

"I don't think so," a voice called from in the bathroom. "I want out of here!" The water in the shower turned off, and a moment later Jou walked out in a towel. "Hey, Yug," he replied. Seto's face immediately softened, starting to follow the Elsarian as he headed towards their room. "Whatever makes you happy, love."

Yuugi almost gagged. Perhaps it was nice that Yami couldn't speak coherently yet. He wasn't ready for sappy conversation. Provocative, yes. Sappy-

Hell. No.

Snarling, Yuugi headed into the bathroom that was now full of steam. Yami giggled at the snarl.

Damn Kaiba. As soon as he was back to normal, Yuugi _was_ going to make his life a living hell. Kaiba was already going to be miserable today, so his antics would have little to no effect.

Yami laughed when Yuugi turned on the shower, and when he used the shampoo, and while he was drying off, and _all_ the way down the stairs into the kitchen.

_xxx_

Yuugi attempted to growl as he was eating his cereal that morning. Yami's laughing was going to drive him bonkers.

Malik cast his Lieutenant a way glance as he pulled the orange juice out of the fridge. "How has he been this morning, Lieutenant?"

"I can't get him to shut up," Yuugi stated. "What do I do? Can I tell him to keep it down in _Estukenteh?_ Or will that not work?"

The captain looked like he was in deep thought. "Well, you could try, I guess. Of course, a lot of laughter is a good sign. It means that you will have a lot of, umm...how would you Humans put this?" He waved Ishtar over, whispering his dilemma into the Earthen captain's ear. Ishtar laughed. "It mean's you'll have a lot of bedroom time," he guffawed.

Yuugi rubbed his neck, where there was still small evidence of his hickey and multiple bruises. "Splendid." Yami squeezed Yuugi tightly, attempting to muffle his laughter into the Lieutenant's shoulder. "Just splendid."

Jou stumbled into the kitchen looking drained, Kaiba following almost obediently along. "Food," the Elsarian grunted. "Hungry."

"I'll make us something," Seto replied tenderly. "You sit."

Again, Yuugi felt like he needed to leave the room. An emotional Seto Kaiba just didn't seem to register in his mind too well. There were too many times he'd seen that icy gaze demolish enemy ships while launching torpedoes and photonic canons. At least the wretch would be back to normal the next day or the day after at the latest.

Unlike Yami. There were still six days left, not including the one they had already started!!!

Ishtar was biting his fist as Kaiba started to make a very healthy, very bland, very Vulcan breakfast for the both of them, and it was a well known fact that Elsarian taste buds were very different from Vulcan taste buds.

Seto started humming, which in turn started Yami on another laughing fit. Kaiba looked very unhappy at the sound of the chuckling and laughing and sniggering, but Yuugi was beginning to think it rather amusing, too.

How many times had he wanted to laugh his ass off at Kaiba, but held his tongue?

"Shut up, Aldar!!! Your opinion isn't needed!!"

Yami fell to the floor in laughter.

Ishtar was biting his fist so hard he thought it might bleed. Thank god that he ate already, for he was finding that he needed to leave the room just to keep a shred of dignity from leaving him were he to respond to any of this.

A smile began to creep up Jou's face as he watched Yami clutching at his sides. Those things had to be hurting by now.

Yuugi snickered. Who ever said laughter wasn't contagious?

"I got to go," Ishtar grunted, leaving the kitchen quickly. Malik raised an eyebrow curiously when a sudden barking laughter echoed down the halls.

"Will you all put a sock in it??!!" Seto screeched. That was it. Jou started laughing, too. The Vulcan at first began to look betrayed, starring at Jou's smiling face. Did he do something wrong?

His attention, however, was quickly drawn away when Yami sat up, just slightly, and was able to point a finger at him, still laughing all the more. Tears were streaming down his face. "That's it!" Seto cried. "I've had it with you!!!"

Yuugi, seeing the time to leave imminent, grabbed the fruit in front of him, grabbed Yami's hand, and dashed out of the kitchen as fast as he could. Kaiba was currently chasing them with a spatula, but all Yami could do was attempt to keep his sides from collapsing.

Also laughing like a maniac, Yuugi fled up the stairs and dashed down the hallway. Flinging open his bedroom door, he pulled Yami inside and closed it, locking it with a number code from the inside as fast as he could.

Seto started pounding on the door, demanding to be let in. Yami laughed hard, collapsing on the floor and holding his sides. They _were_ starting to ache.

Kaiba didn't make it in. The battering of the door stopped, and Yuugi let out a sigh, sliding against the hard surface as he sunk to the floor.

There was sunlight pouring through the windows on the second floor. The snow was not quite so high up as to cover them up. Minnesota never used to get so much snow, but unfortunately the weather patterns shifted drastically over the past two hundred years.

Summers were hot, and winters were hell.

Yuugi glared at Yami playfully. "You can't get him so mad today. We'll be stuck in this room until tomorrow, without any meals. You better not put a damper on my eating habits!"

Yami chuckled, giving Yuugi a sidelong glance. Yuugi was suddenly reminded of an imp.

"You are the strangest damned race I have ever come across. Vulcans are bossy and logical. Humans are psychotic. Elsarians are trouble makers. Vegarians are mysterious and mystical. But you...I don't know. You people are just weird."

Yami scooted over to Yuugi, wrapped his arms around the smaller Lieutenant, and allowed his laughter to quiet down into Yuugi's chest, smiling.

Damn it. He did it again. He made Yuugi's heart melt.

He sighed, returning the embrace. "Never understand you," Yuugi murmured, gently nipping at Yami's jaw line. The Aldar shuddered a little, squeezed just a little harder, and started to purr.

Yuugi wasn't sure if he wanted to molest Yami or start petting him.

He settled with petting for now. Molestation came a little later...

_xxx_

Yami was drooling. No, scratch that. He was past drooling, he had the hoover dam spilling past his lips. His laughter had been cut short just before lunch time as Yuugi got the inkling to cook something really good.

He found steaks in the fridge.

Currently, they were sizzling on the stove top, and Yami wouldn't let Yuugi go as he stood there trying to cook them. The Earthen Lieutenant sighed a little, glad that the container of spices wasn't too far out of reach. He was really getting his exercise lately dragging a clinging Aldar with him whenever he went somewhere.

Strange noises were emanating from deep withing Yami's throat as he watched those steaks sizzle and cook. Yuugi was under the distinct impression that he was whimpering, but he couldn't be sure.

"Something smells wonderful."

Yuugi turned his head and saw Captain Malik walk into the kitchen. "I'm making steaks for me and Yami. Can you tell him for me that he's definitely getting some? I think he's whining."

Suddenly it sounded like Malik was making a sound that sounded like a cross between a growl and a whimper himself. "_I-inentah metek nu. Melek nahtu ista." _He swallowed hard. "There wouldn't happen to be enough of that for me too, now would there?"

Yuugi almost laughed at how pathetic Malik sounded, but Yami beat him to the punch. He squeezed around Yuugi harder, giggling madly. "_Caase estenk nut! Melaseh! Metenk atu! _Hahahahahahahaha!!!_" ___

Malik looked angry. "Don't you talk to me like that! I'm still your superior officer! I just wanted a little steak, that's all! You should take into account all of the trouble I went through to get us here! I can at least have a bite! _Betehb!" _

Yami stuck his tongue out at Malik, and continued to laugh. "I take it he got the message that he gets some," Yuugi asked indifferently.

Malik huffed indignantly, pouted, and walked out of the kitchen.

Yami nibbled at Yuugi's earlobe again, purring contentedly. "_Istahleh. Petiacue istahleh." _

"Yes, I know you love me, now stop distracting me as I cook these. They're almost done." He flipped them both, releasing delicious smells that wafted throughout the kitchen. Yami hummed in delight.

Suddenly, there was a white haired fiend that entered the kitchen. Yuugi stopped dead as he finished putting the steaks onto his and Yami's plates as Bakura entered the small area. "Uh, hello Bakura-san. How are you?"

Addressed snarled madly. "I thought I smelled my steaks. You're not getting those, they're mine."

Yuugi swallowed, looked at Yami whose gaze had not left the delectable meal, and back to Bakura. "You'd better take that up with him." He pointed to Yami.

Bakura got a look of complete rage on his features and began to advance on the drooling Aldar.

Just as a pale hand went to grab the plates a set of very large canines snapped in warning. Yami growled viciously at the caretaker. "They're mine," Bakura yelled.

"_Melaseh!_" Yami yelled back, brandishing his teeth.

The idle reaching and snapping lasted for nearly five minutes, having the possibility of lasting longer but for the fact that finally, after a very daring reach, Yami drew blood.

"Fuck!" The pale hand retreated, holding it closely to the sweater covered chest. "You bastard! You're going to pay for that!"

"I'd be careful if I were you," Yuugi warned. "They're a newly met race, and therefore protected under federal law. Hurt him, and I'm sure that you won't get steaks for a very, _very_ long time to come." Yuugi was sure that he had just signed his own death warrant, but watched stoic none the less as Bakura started to slowly back away. "Threats do no got unchecked here. Just wait, Motou. As soon as that freak of yours is back to normal, he won't be normal ever again when I get through with him."

"Oh, you mean you're going to make him more human? Have fun! I can't wait to see what happens!"

Bakura yelled in anger as he walked away.

Yuugi sighed heavily, setting their plates down on the table. The steaks might be cold by now. It didn't matter, Yami gave him a deeply satisfying kiss, sat down, drug Yuugi onto his lap, and began to eat. Ah, hell, there probably wasn't much that Bakura could do to him that Yuugi couldn't do right back. Ishtar had been threatening to kill him for years, someone had to pay up on their threats one of these days. Everyone dies eventually, right?

Right?

Yami started giggling again.

_xxx_

Yami yawned, his giggles starting to diminish as sleep started to overcome him. Malik had been giving the two of them stink eye for the remainder of the day, still very perturbed at not being able to get any steaks that afternoon. Bakura hadn't been seen since, and Ryou only appeared once to look sympathetically at Yami and Yuugi before disappearing again. More fudge had been dropped off.

Jou sighed, resting on the couch as Seto snored on his lap. The Vulcan had been chasing Yami for the past couple of hours, angered that he could not only not catch him, but he also couldn't get him to shut up. It seemed the only time Yami was remotely quiet was when he was holding Yuugi or eating.

Gods, had he enjoyed his lunch.

The clock in the living room chimed as it reached ten o'clock. Yuugi hadn't realized just how late it was. "I'm going to bed," he stated finally.

Jou gave another wearied sigh, rubbing his face. "Will Seto be back to normal tomorrow?"

"For the most part," he replied. "At least, one can only hope. I'm just afraid at what Yami is going to be like tomorrow."

The Elsarian chuckled. "Oh yes....one can only wonder what will happen next. Not that Malik will tell us and warn

us."

Yuugi snorted. "Not bloody likely. I don't think that he's going to talk to me for quite a while. I'll have to take him out to a steak house in order to get back on his good side."

Jou nodded.

"Goodnight, Jou. Hopefully I'll see you in the morning."

"One can only hope." It was taking a strong will power to survive to pull through their Christmas vacation. That was, if one could even call it that. Yuugi was positive that he'd be in the infirmary for a month by the time they got back on the ship. _That_ was going to be his vacation. He stood up, Yami hanging on to him, and stumbled up the stairs.

_Well, I hope that you enjoyed the next installment, and just wait until the next stage rolls around...Review? Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top? puppy eyes ___


	10. Tokens of Love

**The Twelve Days of Christmas**

Lieutenant Motou's eyes blinked open, his ears greeted with the sound of....silence.

Damn. This was a first. The entire building seemed completely devoid of life. There wasn't even a crazed Bakura stalking the halls. He sighed in contentment, glad to be able to wake up without stress. In fact, it was the most peaceful awakening he had received since leaving the ship. He frowned. That was sad.

And for some reason, this revelation made him just a little more sad. He didn't hear Yami purring behind him as he slept. He rolled over, noticing the bed was empty aside from him. And it literally felt that way....empty. _Oh, Kami...I'm becoming attached. _

Yuugi rolled back over when noises drifted his was from the closet. He lowered an eyebrow warily, wondering what was going to pop out of there. The noise stopped.

Yuugi nearly jumped out of his skin when Yami's blushing face popped into view. He threw a hand on is chest, feeling his racing heart pump furiously. "Gah, don't _do _that Yami! You scared the daylights out of me!"

"_Ne....Ne-entnah metu," _The Aldar blushed. He grabbed Yuugi's hand and shoved something into them. "_Behteb tsunet. Be na meh tu. Meh tu." _He patted at his offering, looking up to Yuugi for approval.

The Earthen Lieutenant looked at what had been given to him.

Rocks.

Yami just gave him rocks.

Wrapped up in a pretty little yellow bow.

_Where the hell did he get rocks with over eight feet of snow on the ground???_

"Um...thank you," he tried. Yami's bright red eyes were begging for approval. Yuugi leaned over, using a hand he placed on the Aldar's cheek to draw him closer, and gave him a kiss.

Yami pulled away, smiled, then laughed. Well, no, more like a giggle. He got up and practically skipped out of the room.

Yuugi scratched his head, looking at the 'gift' in his hand. The rocks had actually been packaged quite well. Decorative plastic wrap was wrapped around the small bundle of about six or seven rocks, the yellow ribbon tied with infinite care.

The rocks themselves were actually quite pretty. One was a deep cobalt blue darker than an ocean. Another was clear and crystalline, and yet another a cloudy yellow.

Yet another bizarre day was ahead of him. Yuugi wondered what other strange things would pop up in front of him. Getting up, he carefully placed the rocks on the journal he kept on the desk, and placed a pen next to it. He would get to that later. Right now, the shower was calling, and he could already here food cooking in the kitchen, even if he wasn't down there yet. His stomach rumbled, reaffirming the need to eat.

_xxx_

Yuugi stretched his muscles as he came down the stairs, feeling refreshed. He hated mornings, and the _only_ way he could wake up was if he got clean. Just as he was thinking what it was he might have wanted for breakfast, Yami took him by the hand and guided him to the table. Yuugi sat down, seeing in fact a multitude of things laid out before him.

Oatmeal, steak, and an _Instant Omelet, _with glasses of orange juice (his personal favorite) and milk. _Steak and eggs...I'm sure it's the breakfast stable of the Aldars. _

Yami smiled at him, handing him a....small pink flower.

Yuugi recognized what it was. He immediately flashed back to his trips to California as a boy with his grandfather. There were a lot of museums out there, and Santa Cruz seemed to be his Ojii-san's favorite place to go. Yuugi remembered walking the miles of the coast, California wild roses blooming on acres of bushes. They didn't really look like roses, but rather conventional blossoms, but their smell was incredible.

_Where in the bloody hell did he get this?_

Yuugi was almost too shocked to respond. He took the flower, twirling it around in his hand. Where did he find this? He smelled it, his memory doing a time warp to his past.

He registered that the Aldar's hand was still holding his, and he squeezed it gently. He looked up. "Where did you find this," he asked. "How?"

Yami smiled at him, kneeling down to his level. Yuugi rested his forehead on the Aldar's and sighed. He brought up their clutched hands and kissed the back of Yami's wrist. That seemed to be the only reassurance he needed, for Yami jumped up giggling again, and left the kitchen, but not before swiping a piece of toast on his way out.

Ishtar walked past him as he came in, his eyes still hazed over in sleep. "What's he so happy about this morning?"

"Captain, where would someone get flowers and rocks at this very moment?"

Lavender eyes spared him a glance as the owner progressed towards the fridge. "Hell if I know. Why do you ask?"

"Because it seems Aldars are resourceful little buggers. Yami just gave me both this morning. I think he's on a gift giving spree. Look, he even made me breakfast!"

Ishtar looked over and noticed the steak and eggs in front of him. He winced. "Bakura's going to kill us before we leave here."

"Oh, you think so too, do you?"

"Why, did you receive a death threat yet?"

"Yeah, and I know Jou has too. Who else is on his hit list?"

The Earthen captain grabbed a frozen waffle from the freezer. "Yami right now, as soon as he sees more of his steaks are missing, and Malik hit it yesterday when he happily greeted him in the morning."

Yuugi winced. "We've got to teach him most humans aren't morning people." He started on his meal. "By the way, where is everyone else?"

"Still asleep. I think Ensign Kaiba had a rough day yesterday."

Yuugi snorted.

"Good morning to you all!"

That little nerve above Yuugi's eyebrow started twitching again. Damned perkiness!

"Beautiful day, is it not?"

"Morning," Ishtar grunted, catching his waffles on a plate as they bounced out of the toaster.

"Good morning is an oxymoron," Yuugi stated philosophically. "Just like military intelligence. And jumbo shrimp. They just can't go in the same sequence without completely contradicting each other."

Malik blinked at him curiously. "Jumbo shrimp? My, that reminds me of the time my bloggle gots got eaten by a glisp glanting zorg! He was giant, but the smallest of his egropie!"

If hitting ones own face did not hurt so direly much, Yuugi would have smacked himself blue. "Never mind."

Ishtar snorted as he sat down at the other end of the table, armed with a fork and some heavy duty, extra thick syrup. Oh, and the butter.

"By the way," Malik went on, pulling the near empty container of orange juice out of the fridge. He frowned when he looked at how much was left. Yuugi pulled his glass closer. "I saw Lieutenant Tiyaku skipping down the hall. Is he well today?"

"He's happy as a clam," Yuugi muttered, now guarding his orange juice as the Aldar captain starred longingly at it.

"Just curious." He put the juice container back and pulled out the milk, which was also almost empty. Yuugi pulled his milk glass closer, too.

"Lieutenant....you wouldn't happen to be planning on drinking _all_ of that, would you?"

Yuugi suppressed a growl. "_Melaseh," _he replied shortly. Ishtar raised an eyebrow, unsure of what it meant. Malik, however, pouted.

"Fine, I'll...." he looked back into the fridge. "What in the name of Begglesbot is this?" He opened the top and tasted it, his face brightening. "I'll have this delightful little yellow beverage." He happily sat down in another chair, and started to consume.

Yuugi almost chocked on his breakfast, and Ishtar laughed. "Captain, that's _mustard!_ You're not supposed to drink that!"

Malik looked at him confused. "Why?"

How was one to explain the supreme purpose of mustard as a condiment to compliment ketchup? Yuugi thought against it. Malik just might start drinking the ketchup, too. "Never mind, captain."

The Aldar shrugged, and started downing the mustard again.

_xxx_

Yuugi sat quiet and still in the living room, looking at the clock on the wall. It was exactly in the middle of the day, and he was so far bored senseless yet again. There was so very little to do in that cabin.

So he sat with his sketchbook, an old pencil, and drew. He usually sketched up new ideas for guns and weapons all of the time, but at the moment he was designing a new pilot ship he could see himself flying one of these days. In close combat out in space, he was sometimes shoved into the cockpit of a fighter jet and sent off to kill. No one could catch him, and he had an eye for targeting that was nothing short of dangerously deadly.

But the one he was drawing now would be used for recreation only. His mind was still mourning the loss of a relaxing vacation, so he was attempting to appease his saddened state by making his subconscious think that one day he was actually going to be able to hit warp speed with a little pilot ship complete, all with a mini fridge full of orange juice. _Don't forget the chocolate pudding,_ a voice in the back of his mind cried. _It's Yami's favorite!_ Yuugi stopped, blinking as he just realized the thought that had crossed his mind. That was bizarre. It was the first time he had actually considered another person when planning out anything, even though it was just fanciful dreaming.

"_Istahleh!" _Yami popped up next to him again, and once again, Yuugi nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Argh! Don't _do _that! How is it you're the only one who can sneak up on me?" Yami looked at Yuugi and pouted, and the Lieutenant felt his heart twist again in regret. "I-I'm sorry. You just scared me, that's all." He took Yami's hand, who seemed to brighten up again.

"_Istahleh, meyentuk anenta. Belues netenk ne." _He pushed something, once again, into Yuugi's hand. He looked at what had been handed to him.

A stack of paper.

Yami had just given him a stack of paper, wrapped up this time in a pretty little pink bow.

And once again, the Aldar was waiting breathlessly for approval.

Yuugi sighed, put his drawing down, and leaned over, kissing Yami softly on the lips. This time, the Lieutenant kissed back, enjoying the attention almost greedily. When they broke apart, Yuugi smiled at him, and Yami got up giggling, skipping down the hall.

Damn this was weird.

He looked at the gift in his hand, running his fingers over the smooth surface. _Shit...this is good paper! Where did he get this??? _

Yuugi was a paper fiend. He loved paper. Whenever he went to buy some, he would sit there for hours feeling each surface. It couldn't be too smooth, like printer paper, because it didn't erase well. It couldn't be rough, because then it would get torn up by simply touching and rubbing easily. It had to be just right, rough enough to hold the pencil and not let it smudge, but smooth enough for fine detail.

And this paper was just about perfect. _How the hell is he finding this stuff? _

An idea for a new photon blaster jumped into his head, and Yuugi wanted to use that new paper so bad he could have cried. _.....Mine. _

_xxx_

"_Gaaah!"_ Yuugi screeched again as Yami surprised him for the third time that day.

The Aldar had practically jumped him in the hall, pinning him to the wall, and yet shyly handing him another gift. It didn't register in Yuugi's mind how someone could be so direct and yet so abashed at the same time.

He took what was offered to him, once again scratching head.

Soap.

Yami gave him a bar of soap.

_This_ time wrapped up in a bright red ribbon.

Yuugi wasn't exactly sure about the soap, but he gave Yami another encouraging kiss and watched as a happy Aldar squealed with delight and bounced his way out of the hall. The little white bar of soap _did_ feel nice. He brought it to his nose, and realized it smelled pretty good too.

Hm. He just might use it in the morning.

_xxx_

Jou walked into the living room, seeing Yuugi sitting in the middle of the room on the floor, keeping a close eye on all of the entrances. "Hey pal, what are you up to?"

Yuugi looked up at him, eating a bit more of the popcorn in front of him. "Keeping an eye out for Yami. He's been scaring the shit out of me all day long. _No one_ has been able to sneak up on me the way he does." He downed some more popcorn. "How's Kaiba, by the way?"

"A little embarrassed about the past couple of days, and feeling a bit under the weather. He's staying in bed today." He plopped down on the couch.

"That's not surprising. He'll be his usual stoic self tomorrow." He leaned over, trying to see down the hallway outside of the door.

"I'm sure glad you're not armed right now, Yug. Last time you had this stance we were infiltrating an enemy vessel."

Yuugi almost growled. "Any more surprise encounters and I'm going to die young of a heart attack." He checked behind him, seeing nothing but an empty wall.

Both heads turned when they heard the shuffling of feet from their right, the Aldar Lieutenant walking shyly in from a different area of the cabin. He ignored Jou completely as he made his way over to Yuugi, his face brighter than a tomato. He kneeled next to Yuugi, shoving yet another thing in his hands.

It was a can of soda.

Wrapped up in a bright orange bow.

_And where the hell is all of this ribbon and these bows coming from???_

Yami hesitantly brought his face closer, tentative as he pushed his lips against the Earthen Lieutenant's. Yuugi pushed back, sealing the kiss. He slid one of his hands across Yami's neck, and the Aldar shuddered heavily underneath his touch. Yami abruptly stood, laughing as he ran out of the room.

Yuugi looked at the can of soda in his hands. It was cold, and it was... a diet coke.

Now how did Yami know that's just what he needed with his popcorn? And aside from orange juice, it was Yuugi's one Achilles heel.

"Wish I had someone to bring me sodas," Jou mumbled.

Yuugi grinned, cracking open his beverage. "Seto may be bonded to you, but he'll still act the same. This time if he's angry at you he'll smother you, rather than pummel you."

Jou pouted, and Yuugi laughed at the reaction.

_xxx_

Yuugi shed his shirt from the day in his bedroom, night having finally descended. Yami had only popped up at random intervals during the day, spending a lot of time rummaging through god-knows what to find those elusive gifts he kept shoving in Yuugi's hands.

Strange thing was, the Lieutenant was finding himself a little sad, this being the first time in a week that he had gotten ready for bed alone. He counted it out in his head during the day, realizing that it had been exactly seven days ago Lieutenant Tiyaku had gone into his mating period, and Yuugi had been forced into his room that had been under lock-down.

And Yuugi was finding himself becoming ever more attached, even though many of the things should have driven him into the psych ward days ago.

He held his arms over his chest, not feeling dusky arms wrapped around his. He frowned hard. _I've got it bad._

This time he didn't jump nearly so high when a warm chest pressed up against his back, Yami's cheek coming to rest on the back of his head. The Aldar hugged him firmly, sighing in contentment at the contact. Lieutenant Motou found himself leaning into the embrace, sighing as well. "I was wondering where you were," he stated.

"_Nestehb nu. Ben ta." _

Yuugi turned in Yami's arms, coming to face him. His taller duplicate was blushing again, reaching behind himself and pulling out the last gift of the evening. Yuugi took the object in his hands, feeling the soft texture run softly under his skin.

It was a stuffed animal. A little brown rabbit with long floppy ears, with a shimmering amethyst bow around its neck. Yami tugged on the bow a little bit. "_Ameyan a set. Petiacue." _

Yuugi recognized the last word as 'pretty.' Then he felt a finger run lightly over his eye lids, and then Yami tugged at the bow again. "_Petiacue enteah." _

_The same color as your eyes. Pretty._

Yuugi's heart melted all the more. He gave a slightly choked laugh. "I'm going to be a pile of mush by the time the twelve days are up. You know this don't you?" He fell into Yami's arms, hiding his face in the crook of the Aldar's neck. He rained a few kisses lightly up his neck, causing the other to shudder and pull him desperately close. "_Istahleh," _Yami whispered lovingly.

Yuugi led the both of them over to the bed, slipped in and pulled the covers up after Yami had joined him. Yami wrapped him up in his arms tightly, just like he did every night, and before Yuugi even fell asleep with the stuffed rabbit pressed against his chest, the Aldar was off and purring again. And he could have sworn he heard Ryou's voice yell from down the hall. _Where the hell has all of my Christmas gift wrapping things gone? Bakura?! _

_Love was never supposed to be easy, though, right? So all of this craziness has to be logically explained **somehow...**_ That was Yuugi's last thought as he drifted off to sleep, a small grin still on his face.

_Seven down...five to go. _


End file.
